Perfect World
by Azurite
Summary: Expel wasn't supposed to exist anymore. Yet when the Captain of the Federation Flagship Calnus returns to the Arctura system, it exists... as do the people left behind. (CH4!+revisions)
1. Moment

"Now approaching the outskirts of the Arctura System, Ma'am."  
"Good. Begin a comparative analysis of this region against the original one from two years ago."  
"Aye, Captain."

The Captain of the great Federation vessel —its flagship, its pride— stood staring at a control panel. She wasn't entirely sure what SHE was doing here— what the Federation was doing here was obvious. But… two years ago, she hadn't even known the Federation existed— and now she was one of its most prized members. Where had the time gone?

"Captain!" the young cadet sitting in the Science Officer's chair called. The Captain merely turned her head towards the cadet, and waited for his response to her unspoken question of "What?"

"The analysis is complete. There is something unusual, though."  
"Hmm?" the Captain prompted, waiting for an explanation.  
"Well, according to the last scans of this region, there was a high-class energy body on a collision course with the fourth planet in this system. However, that energy body is gone… yet the planet remains. Strangely enough, Captain," the cadet continued with a furrowed brow, "The last scans were also made by this vessel… former Commodore Kenni's observations noted that there was less than an hour from the stardate when this scan was made left before the bodies collided."

"…Exp— Arctura 4 is still in existence?" the Captain asked, doing her best to maintain her cool. How… how was it possible? HOW!

"Yes, Ma'am. Coming up on the viewscreen." The cadet pressed a few buttons, and then the screen in front of the helmsmen flashed— and a planet not unlike Earth, only much bluer and greener, lay in orbit, a bright sun glowing not a billion miles away.

All the cadets aboard the bridge of the Federation Flagship Calnus suddenly looked up. Their first mission— and already a planet that was Not Supposed to Be There — WAS. All eyes lay entranced upon the viewscreen, especially those of the blue-haired Captain.

Two years… she thought she'd moved on, and forgotten the past. But now… Now…

Now she had returned at last… to Expel.

* * *

Perfect World  
A Star Ocean: The Second Story Fanfiction  
Chapter 1: Not Meant To Be  
By Azurite  
Email: anzu DOT kaiba AT gmail DOT com  
Site: seventh-star DOT net

* * *

Hello, and welcome to yet another one of my SO2 ideas. Well, now it's actually a fic, and I'm ecstatic that I'm finally getting it off the ground. Hopefully my inspiration will last long enough for me to finish this one! ; I thought I'd point out two simple things: 1) there are spoilers for up to the part of the game when the party arrives in El and goes to Eluria Tower; 2) this is an odd combination of Rena's scenario and Claude's scenario. I did this because I needed to see what REALLY happened while Claude was on the Calnus, but I also want some PAs that are only available in Rena's scenario to have their "results" here in the fic. Technically speaking, if SO2 were REAL (as in, they'd finished making Star Ocean EX for the TV and such) then both scenarios would be together… and aside from the confusing-ness of whether or not Dias is part of your group (he's not in this fic) then all would be the same, right? Right. On with the fic.

No, I don't own Star Ocean 2. Enix made it, Links did the CG, Tri-Ace created it… etc. etc. There's a list of Japanese people who own the character design, battle system, anime, and manga rights, too, but I don't know any of them, so just read and enjoy…

* * *

Eluria Tower, El Continent … Two Years Previous 

"D-did you hear something?" Leon looked around nervously, half expecting another Coldlizard or Timekeeper to just pop out from behind the nearest pillar. Yet since they'd arrived on this floor, all they'd seen were glass statues of fighting men… it unnerved everyone, to say the least.

#…in… Ensi… Ken…#

"There it is again!" Celine exclaimed, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. Their entire group— which only consisted of Claude, Rena, Celine, Leon, and Precis was inside the Eluria Tower— part of what had once been the great city of Eluria. Yet since the Sorcery Globe had fallen upon the continent of El, nothing had been the same— not in El, nor anywhere else in Expel. One would think that after all the strange happenings, frightening monsters, and dank caves the few friends had conquered together, a strange voice wouldn't seem out of place at all.

Yet here, in an empty, mysterious tower that just hummed with power…

#…pare… for bea… out… 10…#

Claude's eyes widened as he realized what the muffled, sourceless voice was. He barely needed to move in order to slide his hand into his worn jacket pocket and feel his communicator. It was vibrating, meaning that signals were being sent.

Oh no… The Calnus… Father… They've come to get me!

He wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking when he ripped off each piece of armor he had on, right down to his greaves— but he scurried to the center of the floor that the tiny group had found themselves on. Rena was looking at him strangely, her blue eyes a muddle of concern, worry— and fear.

"Claude!" she called out, her voice catching for some odd reason. Funny, she wasn't winded— since the last battle on the floor below, she and Precis had raided the bags and found themselves some food to help get their energy back up again. So why, all of a sudden, did she feel so… strange?

"Just stay back everyone! Don't come near me!" Claude called, fiddling with something box-shaped and blinking. Suddenly the bile that had been churning in Rena's stomach burbled up to her throat, and she swallowed convulsively, ignoring the rush of pain.

It… it could be a trap. The enemies… they could be trying to take Claude! I… I can't lose him again! Rena thought desperately, launching forward.

"No! Claude!"

Even with the added weight of her Buckler, Silver Greaves, and her Cestus on her right hand, Rena seemed to float towards the strangely-blinking, vibrating thing that was causing Claude to act so strangely. Her fingers brushed it, the sensation of touching an unfamiliar material snapping through her nerves. And then she pushed it, pushed it out of Claude's hand as the static crack grew louder, and the two of them tumbled to the shining blue floor…

#…tiating… eam… up…#

"Rena, stop, NO!" Claude yelled as the girl straddling him veritably YANKED the communicator from his hands. He didn't know what she was doing, but suddenly his fears multiplied— the communicator beeped once loudly, shrilly, and Rena was backing away…

"STOP! RENAAAAAA!" He extended an arm to try and grab her back, just barely having regained his balance enough to jump up and reach for her as she backed farther and farther down the tower's platform.

But by the time he reached her spot, it was too late— a bright white flash blinded everyone, and the familiar pattern of triangular energy-transfer —transportation light— whisked Rena off— and away from them.

"Uggh…" Rena groaned, lifting a hand to her head. She winced as the sharp spikes on her Cestus knicked the top of her head— which was throbbing quite painfully. In the deep recesses of her mind, she could still see Claude's face as she backed away with The Thing that had threatened him so. Perhaps what she hadn't done was the smartest, yet… if Claude was safe… then…

"Where… am I…?" Rena sat up, fighting a sudden wave of nausea that forced her to keel over. She could barely lift her head, she felt so heavy… but wherever she was, it sure wasn't Eluria Tower. It didn't look like ANY place she'd ever been… and it was so dim…

Am I… am I dead? Oh… oh no…

It didn't seem fitting, for her to die this way. If it was possible to FEEL something when you're dead, Rena sure as hell felt guilty— she'd abandoned her friends in the middle of their mission, in one of their darkest hours… and she still hadn't found out anything about who she was or where she came from.

And here she was… wherever HERE was… alone, in a dark, dismal place… with no one to comfort her. As an 'Expellian' Rena always enjoyed hearing the legends, the fairy tales, and the myths. She'd been prone to believing rumors, and more than once had helped pass them on. But when it came to religion… well, she just hadn't been so sure. Of course, she'd gone to Arlia's church and listened to Pastor Marshall whenever he gave a sermon about The Warrior and how he'd save Expel… but…

So. If she didn't believe in an Afterlife, there simply WASN'T one? How sad. At least, Rena mused to herself as spots dotted her vision, she would have liked to see Claude's smiling face… one last time…

* * *

5 Minutes Earlier 

"Commodore! The transport has initiated!" the officer shouted as the transporter whirred into action. Not long ago they'd locked onto Ensign Kenni's communicator's distress signal— and had tracked it to the fourth planet in the as-yet-unsurveyed Arctura System… particularly, the fourth planet. What made the region so strange was that there was an unidentifiable high-energy body near, but not in orbit with, the planet. It seemed to be causing some strange effects, for the orbit of the planet kept shifting, forcing it into a collision course with the energy body.

Scans had proved pointless, as neither the energy body nor the point where it kept tapping on the planet's surface could be analyzed. But for a brief moment, Ensign Kenni's signal had come in loud and clear, and with Commodore Kenni's order, they'd initated an involuntary transport.

"Transport… complete!" the officer shouted, running his fingers down the panel as the generator of the transport mechanism hummed slowly to a stop. The light on the pad faded away, and the slumped-over form of a human —no, not a human, as the post-transport scans revealed— began to take shape.

Only… it wasn't Ensign Kenni at all… but a young girl, who, by the looks of it, was a native of the underdeveloped planet, Arctura 4, below.

"…What happened?" Commodore Kenni demanded, striding over to the pad. This was certainly not his son… yet in the girl's hand, held in a vice-like grip, was Claude's communicator. What was this girl doing with it?

"Sir!" Another officer ran into the Transporter Room, looking quite winded— he'd obviously run all the way from the Bridge.

"Yes, what is it?" Commodore Kenni growled. The lieutenant who'd had the misfortune of being on the recieving end of Ronixis J. Kenni's Death Glare shivered in his boots and swallowed.

"S-Sir the… the…" Suddenly he was very nervous, that lieutenant. For some reason, he couldn't stop eyeing the Commodore's hand, and how CLOSE it was to the Phase Gun at his side.

"Get on with it, Lieutenant!" the Commodore nearly shouted. He was quite annoyed with the present situation, and not having his son here to calm him down, and keep him rational was adding to the stress.

"YES SIR! The calculations we made earlier regarding the collision time of the Level 9 high-energy body and the Class M planet, Arctura 4, were recently adjusted… there is less than 60 minutes before a full-impact." 

"What?" the Commodore asked, his voice having softened to a faint whisper.

"…the collision, Sir… in less than 60 minutes… A-and the gravimetric pull of the unidentified energy body is affecting our propulsion, Sir, so the helmsman wanted me to tell you that we have to break orbit in less than 3 minutes or risk having our hull punctured… and we might also be caught in the wave and either will collide through the planet, or be crushed between it and the energy body…"

The lieutenant didn't look so happy delivering this news— Commodore Kenni hadn't exactly been in a sane state of mind since his son had gone missing on Milocinia so many days ago. He'd been full of hope the minute they'd discovered his automated distress signal coming from the unexplored Arctura system. As of yet, there was no connection between what they'd found on Milocinia and Arctura 4, but such minor details were of little relevance to the highest ranking officer in the Federation.

What was more, the entire Bridge crew was well aware of the fact that, unexplored, undeveloped or not— Arctura 4 had a population of nearly 1 billion people on its three largest continents. 1 billion lives would be lost because the Federation had a policy of non-interference with cultures that were not yet space-faring.

"Tell the helmsman to break orbit immediately," Commander Kurtzman interrupted the Commodore's thoughts, "Bring us a safe distance away from the bodies, and prepare to initate the jump to Hyperspace and get us as far away from here as possible."

"NO!" Commodore Kenni shouted. "NO! My son is still on that planet somewhere…!" Commodore Kenni strode over to the control panel of the transporter, shoving the duty officer roughly aside, sending him tumbling into Kurtzman's stomach.

"Commodore Kenni, are you suggesting that we endanger the lives of this entire crew for your own personal reasons?" Kurtzman snapped. He hoisted the duty officer off the floor, and both of them knelt down in front of the transporter pad to see whether their new guest was alive.

"…Forgive me, Kurtzman," Commodore Kenni sighed, his head hanging, "For my lapse in judgment." He merely waved a hand, and the lieutenant that had been so terrified to even speak before briskly sprinted back to the Bridge to deliver the Commander's orders to the helm.

"There is no way we could possibly power-up the transporter twice enough to send this girl back to her planet, or wait around long enough within transporter range to try and lock onto Ensign Kenni's bio-signal." Kurtzman sighed, swinging the strange female's arm over one shoulder. He motioned for the duty officer to do the same, and together, they hoisted her up, so she hung like a rag doll between them.

"…" Commodore Kenni was silent a moment before glancing up at the newest passenger of the Federation flagship Calnus. "Bring her to sickbay," was all he said before striding off down the corridor, back to the Bridge.

The Hyperdrive of the Calnus slowly powered up, glowing a brighter blue, as the ship broke orbit from Arctura 4, and sped out of the way of the high-energy body and the planet it was doomed to destroy.

* * *

Tee hee hee… well, that's all for Chapter1. Thankfully, I have enough inspiration to probably go to Chapter 3 or 4, but… we'll see. I hope you enjoyed this… be sure to correct any mistakes I make, as I have not yet played the game through (I have over 17 different saves… ;) and have yet to finish watching Star Ocean EX (even though I know it doesn't go up to the Energy Nede saga). Lastly, just let me know what you thought! Thanks!  
Azurite


	2. Memories

If someone's voice was out there, somewhere… calling her… she didn't hear them. She couldn't hear anything past the beating of her own heart, the thrumming of her own veins… but wait! Didn't that mean… she was alive?

The black spots that had previously clouded Rena Lanford's vision slowly slipped away, lighter spots taking their place until a muddled image of the world in front of her took shape. Slowly her vision cleared, the blurriness and the headache receeded, and Rena found herself in a place like she'd never even imagined before…

* * *

**Perfect World  
Part 2: Memories**  
**A Star Ocean 2: The Second Story Fanfiction**  
By Azurite  
**Email:** anzu DOT kaiba AT gmail DOT com   
**Site:** seventh-star DOT net

**DISCLAIMER:** No, I don't own Star Ocean 2. Enix made it, Links did the CG, Tri-Ace created it… etc. etc. There's a list of Japanese people who own the character design, battle system, anime, and manga rights, too, but I don't know any of them, so just read and enjoy…

**NOTES:** Hello, and welcome to yet another one of my SO2 ideas. Well, now it's actually a fic, and I'm ecstatic that I'm finally getting it off the ground. Hopefully my inspiration will last long enough for me to finish this one! ; I thought I'd point out two simple things: 1) there are **spoilers** for up to the part of the game when the party arrives in El and goes to Eluria Tower; 2) this is an odd combination of **Rena's scenario** and **Claude's scenario**. I did this because I needed to see what REALLY happened while Claude was on the Calnus, but I also want some PAs that are only available in Rena's scenario to have their "results" here in the fic. Technically speaking, if SO2 were REAL (as in, they'd finished making Star Ocean EX for the TV and such) then both scenarios would be together… and aside from the confusing-ness of whether or not Dias is part of your group (he's not in this fic) then all would be the same, right? Also, **I ignore the "eight-party-member limit"** and the rule that says you "can't get so-and-so if you get so-and-so." So you might just see everyone.

**RECAP:** In the previous chapter, we saw a mysterious Captain of the Federation flagship Calnus return to the fourth planet of the Arctura system. Amazed that the planet she once called "Expel" still existed, she set a course for orbit… Two years previous, she'd been on a mission with her friends— to save the world, and maybe find out who she really was. Yet, in a single moment, all of that changed…

* * *

Sickbay, Starship _Calnus_

Rena sat up in what felt like a bed —yet wasn't. The beds she'd seen were always made of wood, and in some rare cases, of iron or steel. This… this material was different. Vaguely, the smooth texture of it felt familiar, but only for an instant— the sensation slipped her memory before she could conjure up where she'd experienced it before.

This "bed" was also a good two feet off the ground— held up by something Rena could not see. One glance behind her at the wall revealed a small support that barely looked like it could hold the weight of the bed, much less with Rena on top of it… yet it was. Add to that, an array of colorful, blinking panels that seemed to change every time she moved…

Rena curiously reached out to touch one of the panels when a shrill beeping sounded, and the noise, frightening the girl so, called the attention of someone in the room Rena had not noticed before. Rena was startled when someone strode into her little corner of the room, curtained off as it was, and pressed a few blinking buttons, and the sound disappeared.

When she removed her arms from her pointed ears, Rena stared up at the other person with her in this mysterious place. It certainly wasn't anyone she knew… and… well, it didn't look like anyone Rena would expect to be in the Afterlife. Not her mother, at any rate… right?

"Oh, so you're finally awake," the woman commented as she looked at Rena, whose expression was nothing short of bewildered. The woman's tongue was foriegn to her— she didn't understand it any more than she understood the growls of the monsters the Sorcery Globe had sent across Expel.

The woman approached Rena with an odd device that looked like a cross between a stick and blade, slender throughout, yet shining and metal at the end. This device she moved towards Rena, who suddenly scooted herself up against the wall, having no other place to go. Terrified of what this stranger would do to her —torture, maybe?— Rena curled up as tightly as she could, pulling the blankets that had been draped over her up to her knees.

The woman stopped just short of Rena, who had cringed in fear of a burning, stinging pain. She hated the battles she'd fought in, had always stayed in the rear, under Claude's wishes. It wasn't that she couldn't fight… it was just that she was better at healing. But now… now she wasn't even sure what was going on, much less whether or not she had the energy to heal herself of whatever injuries she had.

"You don't understand me, do you?" the woman murmured, pulling her arm away. When Rena dared to look up at her with one eye open, she noticed the other woman's expression was one of confusion. This unsure expression —saying almost 'What do I do now?'— gave Rena the temporary courage to uncurl herself somewhat and relax— not completely, but enough for the woman to notice. She smiled at Rena, a bright, sincere smile. This language Rena understood all too well, and she timidly smiled back. The woman looked pleased, and she tapped a button on a device in her pocket, and began talking in her foriegn tongue once more, but this time, not to Rena.

"Doctor Wellsley to the Bridge." There was a clicking noise as the frequencies changed, and then, out of nowhere, there was a reply. "This is the bridge, go ahead Doctor."

"Our guest has awakened, Sir… but I'm afraid she doesn't match any of the alien profiles in our database. She hasn't said anything yet, either, so I'm afraid the Universal Translator hasn't done much good yet…"

"I'll be right down there, Doctor— try to get her talking."

"Aye Sir, Wellsley out." There was another clicking sound, and then Wellsley pushed the off-button on her communicator.

She looked back to the bed where their mysterious passenger had been sitting— only to find her NOT THERE! Startled, Wellsley turned around in a full circle, wondering where the girl had slipped off, only to stumble INTO the girl, who was trying to fish the communicator out of her jacket pocket.

"Well… hello, there!" Wellsley laughed as Rena stared up at her curiously, then at the communicator. Then, with lightning-fast fingers, the communicator was out of Wellsley's pockets and in the girl's hands. She fumbled with it a moment, trying to get it upright, as she'd seen Claude holding it, and she fumbled with the buttons on the top— just as she'd seen the strange woman do.

# Claude! Claude! Answer me! # Rena called desperately into the communicator.

_Please… please… let Claude answer… let him find me… please don't let anything have happened to him… without Claude… I don't know what I'd do…_

It was amazing to realize just how much she'd grown to depend on the man— two years her senior, and ever-mysterious, he'd become everything she idolized and everything she hated, all in one body. Somehow, she liked that odd combination— of foolish boyishness, of sheer determinaton, just of everything that made Claude CLAUDE. He was so much more than that "older brother" feeling she got around Dias. And when she thought Claude'd died…

_Oh, I never want to feel that way again!_

Wellsley stared in amazement as the girl twisted and flicked the switches on the communicator until she heard a dim, staticky sound. Finding this as a sort of confirmation that her fiddlings had been successful, she began to shout into the communicator's speaker— Claude! Claude!

Wellsley nearly fell to the floor. This girl _knew_ Ensign Kenni!

* * *

Eluria Tower, Continent of El

"Give it up, Claude, we've been waiting here for two hours!" Celine mumbled. She didn't want to accept Rena's disappearance any more than Claude, but… they'd been waiting for so long, and the sound of creatures was growing louder. If none had been on this particular floor of the tower two hours ago, there were now— and they were coming closer.

"Rena… Rena… Rena…" Claude murmured, over and over. He hadn't moved from the spot where she'd disappeared, and his head was craned up to the tower's ceiling, as if searching for some point of light that would direct him to where Rena was. If he'd had difficulty expressing exactly what he felt before, it was next to impossible —but just as obvious— now. It was apparent that Claude could not live without Rena— could not imagine going on without her. Ironic, considering most of the mission revolved around Claude as the strongest fighter.True, Rena was the glue that held all of them together as friends and as comrades, but still… her only function in combat was to heal. And as of late, it seemed that she'd rather spend her time with her 'childhood friend' Dias than the people she'd spent so much time traveling with. This was certainly a mysterious case, indeed.

"I don't know about this Celine," Precis was mumbling, holding her Thunder Punch tightly against her chest. She too, could hear the growing whispers and snarls of unseen monsters as they came closer. Though she was always enthusiastic when jumping into a fight, the ones in this tower hadn't come easily— on more than one occasion, Rena had had to cast her "Cure Light" spell on her, saving the young mechanic girl from certain death.

Now, without Rena here… did they even stand a chance? Certainly not if Claude didn't snap out of it, that was for sure. With only two Heraldic enchanters and one semi-good fighter? It wasn't like Precis to doubt herself— she was more the type to encourage those who were down, it was just her personality to be that way… but what could she say to Claude? She'd seen it before… seen it when they'd first arrived in Linga, seen it when Claude had been defeated by Dias at the Lacour Tournament of Arms… there was something there —something between those two— that couldn't be broken or shaken.

"I'm scared Big Sister Precis…" Leon whispered, moving closer to Precis' leg. She looked down at the scruffy-earred boy whom she'd dubbed earlier as "Expel's biggest brat." Somehow, he seemed much more vulnerable. In battle, he was timid, but he always found the strength to cast spells— and though when it came to defense spells, he was often quite selfish, he did serve his purpose. It was beyond his control, anyway: in battle one doesn't always know what they are doing until after the fact.

"It'll be all right…" Precis whispered back to the smaller boy, but then her expression changed, into one of annoyance. "…once Claude gets his act together." This was spoken under her breath, yet Leon still heard. The younger boy straightened suddenly, as if realizing or noticing something of importance.

He detached himself from Precis' leg, much to her amazement, and strode over to where Claude was still kneeling on the floor, face craned to the invisible sky. Celine and Precis barely had time to blink before a loud SMACK was heard, and Claude's face was no longer upturned, but downturned, and red from the smack that little LEON, of all people, had just delivered.

"Snap out of it. We can't believe that she's gone for good, but if we just stay here, we'll be sitting ducks for all those monsters crawling around this tower. And if we don't put up a good fight, and defeat whoever's behind the Sorcery Globe and those monsters, Big sister Rena will _never_ forgive us. Now I don't know what _you_ think of that idea, but I'd rather do my best and go down fighting… what do you say, Claude?"

Precis and Celine stared in complete shock— this was LEON, speaking? To CLAUDE? Yet somehow, it made sense. When Claude had shown up at Eluria Colony, Leon was practically hanging off him. Apparently, the two'd washed up on shore together. But it was apparent that Leon was upset about something— and when they'd all gathered in the Elder's house, they'd found out that Leon's parents were missing.

Upon closer inspection, it was plain to see that Leon had been crying. The very thought seemed out of character for the young professor-child, as he always seemed more focused on studies, on research, on finding out what was behind the Sorcery Globe. The few times the group had seen Leon anything BUT studious were those times when soldiers called him "Master Leon," or when his parents told him to "behave."

Though Precis tended to call Leon bratty, most of the time, the boy was simply afraid— afraid of things he'd never seen nor experienced before, yet unwilling to go back to the life he'd known — if it was even a possibility anymore. So perhaps what had happened was Claude had done to Leon what the boy was doing to the "Warrior" right now— telling him to get up, stop fretting, and go on— for the missing person's sake. If it had worked on Leon enough to give him the courage to slap his own "big brother," then it had to have worked.

"…" Claude remained silent for a moment, his hand raised to his stinging cheek. It took a moment to process what had just happened… but when that moment passed, and everything made sense, Claude looked up. There was nothing more he wanted to do at that moment than scream at the boy that YES, his parents probably WERE dead, there was nothing any of them could do about it, and that despite all of Claude's grandiose statements to the leader of the Eluria Colony, there was a slim to no chance that they could simply "destroy" the Sorcery Globe. They were doomed.

But how could he say this? How, when they'd gotten this far, when he'd convinced a boy so much younger than him to get up off his own feet and move on— if only hanging by a mere thread of hope? How could he give up, when Precis had left behind all she knew and loved in Linga… when Celine had left behind her own fiancee in Cross… when he still had yet to tell Rena how he really felt for her.

Slowly and somewhat unsteadily, Claude stood up, his eyes dark and averted away from his friends. When he finally spoke, his voice was somewhat husky, but strong nonetheless.

"Let's go."

* * *

Two years later, Starship _Calnus_

"Captain?" The cadet at the helm looked quizically up at her Captain. She dared not let her eyes rest on the older woman for too long, since this _was_ almost entirely a ship of Cadets. They were the best of the best in the Federation Academy's graduating class, and they had been appointed to serve as members of the Captain's survey team. Only a select few —mostly those on the Bridge and those involved in Science, Security, and Engineering— would actually work with the Captain, but there were some who got to interact with the Captain on a more regular basis, since she'd been their teacher at the Academy for a specialized, new class known as Heraldic Arts.

"Shall we enter standard orbit of Arctura 4, Ma'am?" The cadet questioned, her eyes glancing down at the panel. All she had to do was input the grade and rate of an orbit and the Federation flagship would hover over the planet like a gleaming star. And for once in over ten years, they could actually make complete scans of the worlds in the Arctura system.

"Y-Yes, please do," the Captain responded. She spun on her heel quickly and strode to the lift doors that would take her back to the Transporter Room.

"M-Ma'am?" the helmsman spoke up for a moment, "Should we assemble a survey team?"

The Captain paused at the door. "Not just yet… I'll be doing the preliminary survey on _this_ planet, Cadet."

And without another word, the Captain left the Bridge. The cadets all sighed— whether from relief at not being selected for what would undoubtedly be a difficult mission, or from disappointment at NOT being picked… well, that is for them to know.

One person on the Bridge, however, did not sigh with any sort of relief or disappointment. Upon seeing his commanding officer merely speak a few scant words and then vanish —not to mention announcing that SHE herself would be taking on the insurmountable task of doing a preliminary planetary survey —_all by herself_— well, he got just a bit annoyed, and followed his Captain's suit and rushed off the Bridge.

"…Well, I guess that means I have the Bridge," Ensign Levi commented, and the surrounding cadets laughed.

* * *

"Rena! Rena!"

Rena kept walking down the corridor to her quarters, preparing to gather a few last minute supplies for this "planetary survey." Somehow, she thought she'd be more excited. Truth be told, she hadn't expected —not even in the slightest— that Expel would… would still BE. Yet here it was, and their mission was to explore the planets in the Arctura system. Expel just happened to be the first one that was Class M.

"RENA!" Commander Ryuu shouted for the umpteenth time since he'd followed his Captain off the Bridge. Finally stopping in front of her own quarters to input her door key, she clicked her tongue at him, her face a mask of fake disappointment.

"Now, now, _Commander_," Rena said with careful emphasis, "We're on duty now. It's not right to be referring to me by my given name in front of the cadets." She tapped the Commander on his nose twice, giggling as his eyes crossed where her finger was. She kept giggling as the door to her suite slid open with a hiss and she stepped inside, the motion sensors activating the ambient lighting surrounding the room.

"What Cadets?" Ryuu demanded, exasperated, "Of the maybe 40 crewmembers we HAVE on this ship, only about 26 are actually 'cadets,' and besides that, there aren't any in the corridor— or in HERE!" Ryuu then proceeded to follow Rena around as she picked odds and ends off her tables and shelves— padds, data recorders, memory chips, communicator badges, a phase gun…

"A phase gun? What in the seven hells are you doing bringing THAT to an unexplored planet!"

"Ryuu," Rena turned around, sighing, "Did you read the initial report of Arctura 4 from 2 years ago? Do you REMEMBER what happened here? What was SUPPOSED to happen?"

Ryuu visibly gulped; "I… Well, I _skimmed_ it…" Rena stared at him a moment before throwing her hands up in the air. She stalked over to her closet and stepped inside, shuffling through the hangers until she found her bright green Federation jacket. She held onto it… just for a moment, inhaling the soft scent, memorizing the texture… before she slid it on and buckled the bottom straps together.

"A commanding officer, Ryuu, and you _skimmed _it? That's… oh, there's not even a word to describe you!"  
"Like you?" Ryuu supplied, and Rena affirmed this with a nod before realizing just what he'd said. He chuckled a moment, and soon was on the recieving end of a pillow launched from across the room.

"No, NOT like me!" Rena nearly shouted, then quieted. "No one's like me." Ryuu heard this simple, soft statement, and kept his mouth shut from making another smart-aleck remark. It was true— his Captain was unlike anyone else in the Federation.

She wasn't human— to be sure, a lot of people in the Federation weren't. That was the whole point: for Earthlings —or Terrans, as many species called them — to explore new worlds, make first contact, discover new things… within set parameters, of course. Too many times the Federation had gotten involved in galactic wars, space infractions, and other assorted "crimes of space fare" that ruined the whole point of exploration.

But unlike the other species in the Federation, most of them in the solar systems at least _somewhat_ near Earth, and its people fairly commonplace wherever you went, Rena —Captain Lanford— was one of a kind. No one was entirely sure WHAT species she was. She was _humanoid_— she had two arms, two legs, two eyes… and two, very pointy ears. One could spot her across an entire room if her hair were pinned up.

Ryuu didn't know the entire story, but from what he remembered, Rena had some strange connection to the fourth planet in the Arctura system. The details were never publicized, it was all classified Federation officer-only information, but…

"…That planet isn't called 'Arctura 4,' it's called 'Expel.'" Rena began slowly, looking out her window. The view of the planet from above was beautiful, but compared to the memories… the memories of Shingo Forest, of Arlia, of Cross, of Lacour, of Claude…

"Expel? Where's that name from?"

"It's from Expellian, I don't know! It's just the name of the planet, okay? And… that's my home." Rena sighed again quietly, pressing her palm against the triplasticene that made up the thick, unbreakable windows of the ship.

"…THAT'S your homeworld? B—but how is it possible? I— I may have skimmed the report, but I know that Arctura 4 —er, Expel— is underdeveloped— they have no space vessels, no subspace communication! I… Rena…" Off her sharp look, Ryuu amended, "Ma'am, I don't understand."

"…I might as well tell you now…" Rena started, sitting down on her couch and patting the cushion beside her, a motion for Ryuu to join her, "In case… well, in case I don't come back." Ryuu said nothing in response to this. It was hard to believe the _Calnus_ could operate without its Captain…

"All of this started a little over two years ago. I was living on that planet there… and if you look, you can just see the continent where I spent most of my life… it's that funny-shaped one there, and at the very southern tip, nestled between a range of mountains and a big forest… is Arlia."

* * *

Arlia Village

"Claude…Claude!" A young, pink-haired girl ran through the small streets of Arlia Village, looking for the tall blonde. She found him right where she expected she would— on the outskirts of the village, just between the Church and the entrance to Shingo Forest.

"Yuki." Claude turned around and smiled as the pink-haired girl ran up to him, and barrelled into him with a hug. She turned bright eyes up to him and smiled, "I made a new jam today, with the help of Uncle Hearn… we want you to be the first to try it!" Yuki exclaimed excitedly.

"Un." Claude nodded his assent and got up from where he'd been sitting, and proceeded to follow Yuki back to her store, a small place just next to Hearn's of Arlia, the Tool and Grocery store that the villagers depended on daily. Their hands remained linked, yet after all this time, the sensation didn't bother him so much. It had, after all, been two years…

Two years since the defeat of the Ten Wise Men.  
Two years since Energy Nede was destroyed, the the two last living Nedians came to live here on a now-restored Expel.

Two years since Rena vanished without a trace.

Sometimes, just somtimes, Claude would sneak out at night at look up at the stars. He'd wonder which one was Earth, and wonder if maybe Rena was on Earth now… if she was happy. Or maybe she was on another star… on _Calnus_… or…

_I can't think like that… I can't think of HER! Yuki… Yuki is the one for me now._

It had come about most unexpectedly, actually. After the prolonged incidents with the Ten Wise Men and their group's excursion to Nede, things in Arlia had… gotten a little strange. Your village would too, if it'd been destroyed and then suddenly brought back by the power of magic.

But there was more to it than that. Celine was now happily married to the former Prince, now King Clother —Chris— of Cross Kingdom, which had been rebuilt since the Great Earthquake struck it a little over two years ago. The Lacour Kingdom continued to prosper, with King Lacour on the throne even after all this time. However, his daughter Rosalia had died in an accident— totally unrelated to the Sorcery Globe at all. So now, this year's "Lacour Tournament of Arms" promised to be even more exciting than the last ones, as this year, the King would announce his heir to the throne— someone that wasn't really related to him, as rumor had it. Celine, of course, knew all the details, but wisely kept her lips sealed until everyone was to meet in Cross later on.

In any case, everyone had gone home, gone their separate ways— for the most part. Leon and Precis were often seen together in Lacour's labratories, concocting new machines and robots, while members of the group that had joined up later— namely Ashton, Opera, Ernest, Chisato, and Noel— found themselves either wandering from place to place, or simply stranded on Expel due to circumstances beyond their control. Fate had its hand.

Claude, however, longed for the calm that Arlia had offered when he'd first found himself on Expel. It wasn't the same without Rena —nothing from the point she disappeared ever was— but it was still peaceful. He'd tried staying with Chisato in Lacour for a while… but the excitement of a bustling, expanding city, always rebuilding and reconstructing got to him. He needed peace. With few regrets, he left the city life and aimed to return to Arlia— alone. On the way there, he'd run into Alen-Tax and Yuki in Salva, the same town where Claude and the others had met Ashton Anchors, the swordsman with dragons on his back. Ashton had chosen to stay with Noel in the expansive forest near Herlie, where they cared for animals and sometimes fought off the last strains of the demons left by the Sorcery Globe's magic.

Alan and Yuki were curious as to where Rena was, and upon mentioning her, the wall that Claude had spent so much time building came crumbling down. Alen was shocked and mourned for many days, while Claude spent most of his time in Salva regretting his actions. It had been Yuki who comforted him, stayed by his side, and gave him a place to stay.

As it turned out, the reconstruction of Cross and most of the Lacour and Elurian Kingdoms took many people away from the smaller places like Salva— and business was quite bad. Alen, acting as Mayor in his father's absence, was doing his best to change the town for the better, but many business people aside from Yuki believed that a move was best. It was to Claude's complete surprise when she showed up outside the gates of Salva the day he announced he was finally leaving to return "home" to Arlia.

"There's nothing left for me here in Salva," Yuki had said, "And the life of a city girl isn't the one for me. So you might not be some Legendary Warrior of Light," Yuki paused, smiling brightly up at Claude, who was startled by the gesture, "But I like you anyway. Even if you can't go to your real 'home'… Maybe— maybe you could make one in Arlia… with me." It was that moment that Yuki turned scarlet, and kept her lips sealed the rest of the journey to Arlia.

But Claude smiled. Someone still cared for him. It wasn't to say his friends didn't —they did!— but not the same way that Rena had… the way that Yuki **did**. Maybe it would take a while before his heart could open up again… but this was a step of the way there.

"Claude! Earth to Claude!" Yuki worriedly waved a hand in front of the boy's face, giggling when he finally shook his head and snapped out of his stupor.

"Hey, where'd you go? Space?" Yuki laughed as she pulled Claude into her small shop, then she stopped. Claude had frozen where he stood— it'd been a while since she'd mentioned… well, anything about his life outside Expel. Originally, when he'd gone through Salva to get to Arlia, he'd told them the entire story— start to finish. It'd taken a while, especially explaining things like the _Calnus_ and the war with the Rezonians, and the odd device that had brought him from Milocinia all the way to Expel. Well, maybe not 'all the way.' Claude still had no idea just WHERE in the universe Expel was. Maybe it was millions of lightyears from Milocinia, from Earth— from everything and everyone Claude knew… but maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was part of an unexplored region in space that the Federation had yet to reach. One day, maybe…

"S-Sorry, Claude, I didn't mean to…" Yuki mumbled as she began to play with her fingers. Claude shook his head. Two years… a reunion at Lacour in a month… the upcoming crowning of Celine at the Cross Eluy Celebration… it was hard not to be reminded of what once had been.

"No, it's okay, Yuki. If I begin to forget all that has brought me here, _that's_ when we're in trouble." Claude smiled, then strode up to Yuki's side, hugging her close and producing a surprised squeak from the girl. "Now, where's that delicious jam you were telling me about?"

* * *

"Wow." Ryuu sighed, leaning back. There was much more to the beautiful, mysterious Captain Rena Lanford than he ever could have imagined.

From her vivid descriptions of the village of Arlia and its people… scattering "Expellian" words here and there, her near-perfect Japanese slipping every now and then, all the way to the moment she consciously found herself here on the _Calnus_… it was quite the story.

"But you didn't go into details about what happened AFTER that," Ryuu pointed out, his brows furrowing, "What happened after you found yourself here on the _Calnus_ and not… dead." Ryuu sported an embarassed look for his poor vocabulary, at which Rena shook her head resignedly.

"Well… I think Edith —Doctor Wellsley— was more than a bit surprised that I knew Claude's name— that I was practically screaming it into the communicator." Rena laughed, almost bitterly, "Of course, back then, I had no idea that I was pretty much on the loudspeaker to the entire ship…"

* * *

Two years previous. Bridge, Starship _Calnus_

Commodore Kenni looked up at the loudspeaker nestled in the darker shadows of the ship as an unfamiliar voice began shouting: # Claude! Claude! # and then a string of words that he didn't understand. Wellsley had just communiqued him and informed him that their mysterious visitor was awake… perhaps…?

It was pointless to even hope— they'd long since left the orbit of Arctura 4, and that high-energy body with such an intense gravity well was impossible to shift or destroy. Arctura 4, where his son was, was doomed to be destroyed. The vessel had barely enough time to chart what they'd observed about Arctura, the energy body, and how its mysterious energy nearly matched that of the device on Milocinia.

They could always go back to Milocinia… but whatever had taken Claude to Arctura 4 had destroyed itself with his transport… and if Arctura 4 itself had been destroyed, then…

"I'm on my way to Sickbay," Commodore Kenni told Kurtzman, who'd come back to the Bridge after he and the transport duty officer had taken the girl to Sickbay. "You have the Bridge."

"Yes Commodore," Kurtzman replied, stiffening into a more respectful position as the Commodore passed him and he left the Bridge. Only after the lift doors hissed shut once more did Kurtzman relax into the Commanding Officer's plush seat.

_What have we done?_

Sickbay

Doctor Wellsley had, at first, simply stared at the young girl fiddling with her communicator, shouting Ensign Kenni's name into it almost desperately. She at least had some idea of what the device was— though HOW was beyond her. Perhaps she'd seen Claude using it? But if that was so, then why was it that SHE had had the device, instead of Ensign Kenni? From the manner in which the girl had been calling his name, it couldn't be that anything had HAPPENED to him… right?

"What is going on here, Doctor?" Commodore Kenni demanded as he strode into the pristine whiteness that was the _Calnus_ sickbay. Doctor Wellsley bolted upright and nearly saluted, remembering that she was technically not in the ranks of the other officers aboard the ships. Should she choose to, she could deem the Commodore —or any of the commanding officers— unfit for duty, and she could take over herself. It was a ridiculously power-trippy idea, but one that she always remembered whenever she slipped back into her own Federation Academy cadet-ways.

"It seems our visitor knows Ensign Kenni— she snatched my communicator and started shouting his name into it."

"I'm aware of that, Doctor," the Commodore snapped, and at Wellsley's raised eyebrow, he sighed, "Have we got any sort of information regarding what species she is— or the language she's speaking?" He cast a glance at the young girl, giving her a once-over with his eyes.

She was petite, yet her bare legs revealed shapely muscles —it was entirely probable that enemies underestimated this child-like girl, and ended up on the recieving end of some quite powerful kicks. Her dress didn't look too unusual— merely an overall-styled dress and a cape— though the girl had been sporting some rather intense-looking armor when she arrived on the transporter pad. He wasn't enturely sure what either Kurtzman or the Doctor had done with it, though.

"No… this is the first time I've heard her speak at all." The doctor moved towards the panel on the wall, intending to turn the Universal Translator on. Before she had the chance to touch the glowing pink button, the girl had moved across the room, an angry expression on her face as she nearly crushed the communicator with her vice-like grip.

She practically shouted an entire litany to the bewildered doctor and the astonished Commodore, slamming her hand over the doctor's and refusing to let her fingers touch the button that would allow them to understand one another.

If there was one thing Rena usually WASN'T, it was angry. But she didn't know where she was… how she had gotten here, or who these people were. She was terrified, and she wanted to be with Claude again. The battles were rough on her, physically and mentally… but for Claude, she'd toughed it out. Silently, she'd continued believing that Claude really was The One— the prophesized Warrior of Light. If not him, then who else?

But these people had just started talking —a new one had stepped into the room just a moment ago, not looking nearly as gentle as the woman whose hand she'd pinned to the glowing wall— and Claude wasn't answering, and she wasn't thinking straight, and she knew it…!

"Please!" The doctor cried, her fingers starting to protest against the harsh pressure the spritely girl was amazingly applying against them. It was odd, since Rena never thought herself a fighter. Amongst the group, she was the healer— always having to hide in the back and heal. When the monsters came after her, she ran. She depended on Claude and the others to save her. The monsters they'd faced in Eluria Tower were nothing like those she'd faced outside of Arlia or Salva— not nearly as weak. Her gymnastics skills did her no good. As much excercising as the battles did for her, she was no stronger than she had been when their journey had begun.

Rena's face softened somewhat, and as she looked at the tall, serious man who'd just recently entered, she saw Claude's face imposed over his— and then the tears began to fall. She released the doctor's hand from the wall, hardly noticing as the older woman pressed a pink button with a near sense of urgency.

Between sobs, she called for Claude, praying to all the Gods that he could hear her, that he could save her from this place somehow, that he was okay… that everyone was okay…

"Claude… please… Don't leave me here all alone… I don't know where I am… I don't know what to do… my Warrior…"

Commodore Kenni and Doctor Wellsley exchanged a glance— amazingly, the Universal Translator started working immediately and shortly after she'd spoken Claude's name, her words seem to form into perfect Japanese.

However, the girl didn't speak anymore, as she slumped over on the ground in a faint.

* * *

"Wha… Where…?" Rena mumbled, sheilding her eyes from a suddenly bright source of light that wasn't entirely in front of her eyes.

"So you're awake," a sourceless voice commented, and Rena bolted upright, only to find herself facing the same woman she'd seen earlier. Rena stared guiltily at the woman, whose right hand was bandaged.

"Ah…" Rena started, running the last moment in her head. Had that woman just spoken Expellian? How was it they'd understood each other…?

"Yes, we understand each other now," the woman continued, smiling despite her wound. "We have a device known as a Universal Translator that helps us understand the language of other species. Ensign Kenni had something much like it himself."

"En…sign?" Rena pronounced the strange word, yet found herself understanding its meaning— at least in conjunction with what sounded like Claude's name. It'd been so long since she'd heard anyone call Claude by his last name, but judging by the manner of this woman and that man that had been in here earlier, it was only appropriate for them.

"Yes, Ensign. You called him Claude, his first name?" The doctor prepared a medical scanner and brought it over to the girl, who eyed the device warily as it blipped and bleeped while passing over her body.

"Y…Yes. W-Where is Claude? I want… I want to speak to Claude!" Rena murmured, her eyes beginning to tear again. What had she been thinking, in snatching the device away from Claude like she had? If she ended up here, away from monsters, and Eluria and everything so horrible she'd faced —with her friends— in the past several months, then the device HADN'T been trying to take Claude away— or if it had, it wasn't by the enemy. Now… now she'd gone and _abandoned_ them! What if… what if they couldn't make it?

"…young lady, do you have any idea where you are?" The doctor changed the subject, and Rena looked around, bewildered.

"N-No…"

"You're on the Starship _Calnus_. As of right now—" the doctor turned to the panel that had been blinking earlier, but now only hummed softly and glowed with a steady light, "—you're approximately 120 lightyears away from Arctura 4— the planet where we beamed you up from."

Rena didn't understand the 'Arctura 4' reference, but her pointed ears, with her sharp hearing, had caught on the '120 lightyears' bit. She wasn't that much of a study in physics, the sciences, and the like… but it sounded far. Farther than she could possibly imagine— or ever return to.

"Oh… god…"

"Arctura 4 was about to be hit by a large, high-energy body that had changed the planet's orbit and was forcing it into a collision path. The ship couldn't withstand the hull stress, and was forced to retreat to a safe distance. As far as our last scans know… the planet was about to be destroyed."

"D…destroyed…?" Rena whispered, her hand reaching up to her mouth as she paled.

Faces flashed before her eyes.

Celine…  
Precis…  
Leon…  
Dias…  
CLAUDE…!

Rena broke into tears, disconsolately sobbing into the arms of a woman she barely knew. The only word she said was "Claude!" over and over again. It was all her fault…

Her armor, Cestus, Buckler, and Greaves collected dust in the closet which the doctor had placed them in… and Rena's pendant, hanging from a hook not a yard away from where Rena sat crying, lost its iridescent glow.

* * *

_Augh, well this was much longer than I originally intended! So perhaps my inspiration thus far will last me until Chapter 5 or 6! Eventually I will come full-circle and go back to 'Captain Rena Lanford' going BACK to Expel, and the adventures that then ensure… but for the next chapter or so, it will be her retelling of how she got involved with the Federation, her assignment to her current crew on the Calnus, etc. I make transitions every now and then to Claude to hint at future action— don't worry, I'm not making Yuki a definite character in this! So please don't yell at me for Rena not being "with" either Claude or Dias. You'll see what happens… if you keep reading!  
Azurite_


	3. Returns

Destroyed... Everything she had known and loved. Everyone... 

She'd abandoned them. If they'd survived... how? How would they have? In the midst of a difficult battle with an unknown enemy, an enemy that never TRULY showed its face... how could they have won? It wasn't like her not to hold out hope, to keep going strong...

But 120 lightyears away... and such a sense of dread...

==================================================================  
**Perfect World  
Part 3: Return**  
**A Star Ocean 2: The Second Story Fanfiction**  
By Azurite  
azurite_moon@yahoo.com  
  
AIM: Meriellen5

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Star Ocean 2. Enix made it, Links did the CG, Tri-Ace created it... etc. etc. There's a list of Japanese people who own the character design, battle system, anime, and manga rights, too, but I don't know any of them, so just read and enjoy... 

NOTES: Hello, and welcome to yet another one of my SO2 ideas. Well, now it's actually a fic, and I'm ecstatic that I'm finally getting it off the ground. Hopefully my inspiration will last long enough for me to finish this one! ^^; I thought I'd point out two simple things: 1) there are **spoilers** for up to the part of the game when the party arrives in El and goes to Eluria Tower; 2) this is an odd combination of **Rena's scenario** and **Claude's scenario**. I did this because I needed to see what REALLY happened while Claude was on the Calnus, but I also want some PAs that are only available in Rena's scenario to have their "results" here in the fic. Technically speaking, if SO2 were REAL (as in, they'd finished making Star Ocean EX for the TV and such) then both scenarios would be together... and aside from the confusing-ness of whether or not Dias is part of your group (he's not in this fic) then all would be the same, right? Also, **I ignore the "eight-party-member limit"** and the rule that says you "can't get so-and-so if you get so-and-so." So you might just see everyone.

THANK YOU: To Wonderful Failure and FangFire, who reviewed the first 2 chapters of Perfect World and have kept me going! I know I tend to skip around a lot, and also introduce characters that may not seem important, but they are, really! So keep on reading, and I'll keep on writing!

RECAP: Two years ago, Rena Lanford tried to "save" Claude from a mysterious voice calling him away from their closely-knit group of friends. Instead, she found herself on a spaceship 120 lightyears away from the planet she had known and loved-- and Expel was on its way to destruction. Now, she is the Captain of the Federation flagship _Calnus_, taking after Claude's father, the famous Ronixis J. Kenni. She is responsible for a ship of cadets surveying the Arctura system, of which Expel is a planet... still... Her mysterious past is revealed to her Commander, Ryuu, and Rena prepares to embark on a mission like never before...

====================================================================

[ Eluria Tower ]

They'd been walking for some time now. The sounds of the monsters were merely in the background, never coming any closer than what they could see around them. For the time being, it seemed that the group was safe. Though, as it stood, they weren't much of a group. 

Celine kept to herself in the rear, watching for creatures approaching from the shadows, ceilings, or side halls that they might not have noticed before. Leon and Precis were unusually silent, finding themselves with nothing better to do than hold themselves and wonder what had gone wrong. 

Claude... Claude still led the way, his gaze riveted to the path in front of him... but within the crystal blue depths of his eyes, there was a wisp of distraction, of side-thoughts and musings... of things he could have done. As it was, Leon was right-- there was no way he could just wait for Rena to return. He hadn't heard all of what the communicator had said, so he had no idea why the _Calnus_ suddenly decided to try an involuntary transport. But that's what it had been. And for whatever reason, now, Rena was gone, and there was no way Claude could get her back. 

"Look out!" An unfamiliar voice suddenly called, and Claude found himself being harshly thrown to the side of the wall. A person had been lurking in the shadows -a side hallway that the group hadn't noticed, a faint glow the only marking of its existence- and had pushed Claude out of the way just as a Coldlizard jumped from behind a transporter and hissed loudly, its icy breath just barely reaching Claude and the others.

"Eh... who... who are you?" Claude stared up at the man who had pushed him aside so roughly, blinking when he noticed...

'Three eyes...!?' 

"Wait!" Claude interrupted the man before he could speak, "I've seen you before! In Cross!" The man nodded slowly, but said nothing as he rose from the floor, helping Claude up with one hand. 

"That is probably true, but we have other things to worry about now...!" The man turned around brusquely and from his wrist, a tightly corded leather whip slashed out at the lizard, whose attentions had been focused on Precis and Leon, gripping each other tightly. Precis had been injured in the last battle, and Leon, while tending to her, had gotten wounded himself. At the moment, the two were too hurt to fend off a Coldlizard of such immense strength. 

Lightning crackled around the whip, causing the Coldlizard to arch in pain. It was at this moment that Celine chose to cast a spell she knew worked all too well against Coldlizards -- "THUNDERBOLT!" A bright streak of lightning and the booming sound of the accompanying thunder crashed down onto the writhing lizard, the man's whip pulling back just as the brunt of the blast hit. Within moments, only ash remained where the lizard had been, and soon, even that faded away into the tiling. 

"Thanks for your help," Claude turned to the man, inspecting him carefully. He felt somewhat guilty for not having helped in this battle, and flustered for not having noticed the creature's presence in the first place. True, it wasn't as if he had a Sixth Sense or anything, but he was pretty good at observing things --as slow as Precis claimed he was.

"Of course... but in the future, you should be more careful in places such as these. What are kids like you doing here, anyway?" The man's gaze fell on Leon and Precis, the youngest of the group, then to Celine, whom he nodded to curtly. She raised an eyebrow at this unspoken gesture of acknowledgement, and walked forward. 

"We're investigating the Sorcery Globe under the authority of the King of Cross... what about you?" Celine's eyebrow remained upturned as she scanned the man up and down. He was handsome, that was for sure, but he also seemed old-- that was to say, older than her. Much older. Perhaps it was a fatal flaw of hers, but Celine couldn't help but like younger men. Every once in a while, she found herself attracted to someone her own age, or maybe a year or so older... but not much more than that. This man was OBVIOUSLY much more than a few years her senior.

"Aa, I'm actually doing some investigations of my own... though more related to the archaeology of Eluria than the Sorcery Globe."

"Eh? Archaeology?" Leon stood up and smiled at the man brightly.

"You look like a scientist yourself, boy." The man grinned back, and Leon beamed. It was true that he was recognized wherever he went as the youngest genius ever to walk Expel's lands, but... getting recognition that had nothing to do with his name or residency made the boy proud.

"H-Hai, I am, Sir, a Doctor!" 

"A fine profession," The man's smile faded only slightly as he wound his whip and tied it around the belt on his waist, "Doctor...?"

"Leon!" The blue-haired boy grinned, "And this is Claude, Precis, and Celine."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," The man bowed somewhat, "I am Ernest. Ernest Raviede." 

"Hmm... I do believe I saw you Claude, in Cross, as you said."

"That's strange," Celine began, tapping a manicured hand to her chin, "I swore *I* saw you in Hilton not too long ago... yet then, your jacket was green..." Celine trailed off, eyeing the man strangely. Now, as Ernest stood before them, he wore a white jacket lined with a shining, black fabric. It was soiled in many places, but not ripped-- apparently the battles that Claude and the others frequented in the halls of Eluria Tower didn't occur as often to Ernest. 

"...Opera..." Ernest murmured, his eyes suddenly taking a far-off look. Precis, who stood beside him, was looking at some of the technology on his belt, and when he turned around, gazing off into the distance, she tugged on his coat-tails, "A-Anou... Ernest..." 

"Aa! Sorry... You must have seen Opera... my... fiancee." Ernest smiled slightly, "It's been a long time since we've seen each other. I came to this planet to investigate some of the older ruins I found here on my ship's scanners... but a strange energy source caused my ship to crash," Claude's face, unbeknownst to everyone else, fell at this, "And since then, I have been wandering, looking at ancient ruins. I was sure Opera would follow me eventually, and soon we will meet again..." 

Precis and Celine both swooned, "How romantic~!" 

Leon rolled his eyes, and Claude managed to stifle a half-hearted chuckle. What had he been thinking, hoping that this man could maybe... maybe... take him away from Expel? How foolish. It wasn't as if he was eager to find a way home -a way back to the _Calnus_- anymore... it was more like...

'Rena...' An image of the girl's face flashed before Claude's eyes, and involuntarily, tears sprung to his eyes. He had known what was happening what she'd gotten transported, but he hadn't been fast enough!

"Well, it would probably be in our best interests to travel together here, wouldn't it?" Leon piped up, eyeing Ernest's whip. Even if it was a simple and rather rudimentary weapon, whatever strange technology this man had re-enforced it with made it a force to be reckoned with. He could come in handy, especially if Claude continued to be despondent about Rena's disappearance. 

"I'd be glad to." 

====================================================================

[ Two years later, Captain's Quarters, _Calnus_ ] 

"So what happened after Doctor Wellsley told you..." Commander Ryuu swallowed, tugging at his uniform's collar slightly, "That Expel had been destroyed?" 

Rena smiled faintly, her gaze drifting to the lush green and blue planet just outside her window. Expel... 

"It took them a while to get me responsive, after that. In all that time I spent... crying my heart out, begging to be brought back, the _Calnus_ was already on its way back to Earth." 

[ Two years previous, Starship _Calnus_ ] 

"Commodore, we're entering into a standard orbit of Earth!" The helmsman reported as Commodore Kenni walked onto the Bridge. He'd spent much of the last two hours in the Sickbay with Doctor Wellsley, listening to their visitor sob her heart out. Truth be told, they hadn't found any more out from her than when they'd started. True, it was a start that she was talking to them now, and not angry... but she was so upset. The word barely did justice to the expression that she'd had when Wellsley had told her that they could never return to Arctura 4. 

"Good. Hail the Federation Medical Corps head and route the connection to my office immediately," Commodore Kenni ordered, striding into his office. His eyes were haunted by the girl-- tears streaming down her face so freely as she cried out for Claude. It took a lot for Ronixis to not be upset as well --he felt as though he'd abandoned Claude, as if he hadn't tried hard enough to save him. Truth be told, it was a mistake that they'd picked up someone else instead of Claude... how could they have known that someone else would be in possession of Claude's communicator? They should have waited until Claude responded to their hail, to confirm bio-signatures, or...

'But then this girl wouldn't be alive either. And Kurtzman was right,' Commodore Kenni sighed, removing his hat, 'Staying any longer around that energy body would have endangered the crew.' 

# Recieving a signal, Sir # The communication officer's voice came through the intercom. 

"Good, patch it through," Commodore Kenni ordered, briefly running a hand through his hair before pressing the button to accept the signal. 

# This is Federation Medical Corps. # 

"This is Commodore Ronixis J. Kenni..." The Commodore began, his eyes still closed. 

# Ron? Good god, you look as though you ate a puppy! #

Ronixis J. Kenni looked up at the screen, startled only somewhat to see the smiling face of his friend, Somenth Westerburn staring back at him. 

"Not quite, Som," Ronixis began, sighing once more. "Something worse." 

# ... Casualties? # Somenth murmured. It was difficult, the two positions these men had. Ronixis had the duty of being responsible for every life on the vessel on which he was stationed, while Somenth had to hear daily casualty reports from the war front, from survey ships, and even from Earth's hospitals.

"One," Ronixis whispered, folding his hands in front of his face and leaning on them, "Just one." 

# ... I... I don't mean to sound rude, Commodore, # Somenth stared at Ronixis through the viewscreen, his eyebrows raised in confusion, # But one casualty has never gotten you this ... this 'out of it' before. #

"The casualty was Claude." Ronixis swallowed the lump in his throat. Instead, the itching, burning sensation moved to behind his eyes, where Claude's face was imprinted. Could Ronixis ever close his eyes again without thinking of Claude? His only son...

Silence filled the room as the two men simply shouldered the weight of the universe. How terrible... 

====================================================================

Sometime later, Ronixis stood in front of Somenth Westerburn, rather than staring at the famed Federation doctor through a viewscreen. Beside the Commodore sat Doctor Wellsley, who held a stack of electronic pads in her hand. 

"Once again, you have my sympathies, Ron... I'll be sure to send Iria some flowers, or..." Somenth trailed off. Saying 'sorry' for something he wasn't even responsible for... feigning that Claude's death hadn't impacted him in the least... how ludicrous! He had watched the boy grow up, had been a friend of the family since he was born...! And flowers alone wouldn't console Iria... she had seen so much death and heartache to begin with, and now her own son...

"Anyway, this 'visitor' you picked up..." Somenth uncomfortably cleared his throat, looking to Wellsley, hoping that if he avoided his friend's faint gaze, he wouldn't keep seeing his son standing beside him. The last time the two of them had been here, it had been just before the mission, when Claude was getting cleared for his first deep-space exploration mission. True, he was only acting as an escort, but as one of the highest performing cadets in his class, not to mention the son of the famed Commodore Kenni, he would undoubtedly serve *some* greater purpose during the mission.

Claude had been beaming with pride as Somenth congratulated him on passing his classes with such flying colors, and having been cleared by the Medical Corps so quickly for his mission. 

"You've never been in better health, Claude. Be sure to take care of yourself on this mission." 

"I will, Doctor Westerburn! I will!" Claude seemed so excited, and he'd nearly *skipped* out of the office with his father walking stiffly beside him. It had been humorous at the time, but now... all that was left of the boy was a shadow of a memory. 

"Yes, here are the initial scans of her that we did. When she was conscious, she wasn't too prone to talking or anything..." Wellsley trailed off, glancing sideways at the Commodore, who had also been witness to the girl's hysterical tears, "So we scanned her when she was sleeping. Not much has changed, though-- we still can't identify her race, though her internal structure mostly resembles that of a human."

"Where is she now?" Somenth asked, glancing over the pads in curiousity. A few calculations had been done, and the girl's statistics had been converted to current Earth reckoning. Approximately 17 years and 8 months of age... an unusual, yet natural hair color, pointed ears...

"In the Medical Corps Quarantine Facility, I believe," Wellsley responded, standing. Commodore Kenni slowly rose as well, his eyes downcast as he followed the doctors out of the office. 

"Well then," Somenth cast a sad glance at his friend, unsure of what to say or do, not knowing if any actions or words would even do any good, "Let's go and meet this girl, shall we?" 

====================================================================

[ Eluria Tower, Expel ]

"Looks like there's nowhere to but up," Precis murmured, hefting her Thunder Punch over her shoulder. Leon had done the best he could attending to her wound, but it still smarted. Precis knew just as well as anyone else -like Claude, who had known Rena from the beginning, and Celine, who had used the girl's smarts and abilities for her own ends, and then as a friend- that without Rena, things would be difficult. Precis had come so close to death in so many battles so far, and it was just a blessing that Ernest joined them, and made the battles somewhat easier...

Before their small group was a pillar of light that gleamed iridescent blue, sparkles traveling up, up, up, to a dark place, a floor above that couldn't exactly be made out. They'd been through other transporters much like these, golden and green in color. They'd walked out of them feeling somewhat shaken, but in one piece nonetheless. And then, after they'd stepped out of that first transporter, they'd come across what had once been flesh-and-blood fighting men, but what were now simply glass statues with letters and numbers engraved on them in an odd pattern. 

That odd pattern had turned out to be 'Apocalypse,' the password that allowed them to enter a previously closed-off portion of the tower. That had been where Rena had been taken away, and it was a silent, mutual agreement between all of them that perhaps that region of the tower would have been better left untouched. Maybe then, Rena would still be with them. 

All the same, as things were now, there was nothing to be done... nowhere to go but up. 

Claude swallowed. He couldn't lose hope. Just as that time when he'd washed up on the shores of Eluria all alone, thinking that maybe Rena was dead... drowned... he kept believing. It was what Rena always told him to do, it was the very nature of her. Her spirit, her soul, her essence depended on that neverending faith she had in everyone. It was a similar thing that Precis had in her, though lately, the younger girl seemed less spirited. It seemed unnatural to Claude, and he knew he couldn't let his sadness reflect on the others. No, he had to keep going, keep being strong... keep believing that Rena was safe on the _Calnus_. 

"I'll go first." And without another word, he stepped into the transporter, his body disappearing into the blue light. Precis followed, then Ernest, Leon, then finally Celine. She cast one last look at the floor where Rena vanished, a sadness previously unseen filling her maroon eyes. 

"Come back someday, Rena. Someday." 

====================================================================

An eerie green light surrounding what looked like a highly patterned orb was what greeted the group as they entered this darkened top floor. Emanating a soft hum, the group approached, only to be halted by Claude's hand as he noticed -- a group of shadows, humanoid shadows-- surrounding the sphere.

"Who's there!?" Claude demanded, his eyes gleaming as the others lined up behind him. That eerie ball in the background... could it be...?

'It's impossible... the Sorcery Globe?' 

But what else could it be? Here was Eluria Tower, the place said to be the source of all the evil on Expel nowadays. Not a mile from here was the crash site of the Sorcery Globe, yet nothing lay inside the crater --not any debris, not any life or evil or anything at all-- it was merely a hole in the ground. The tower itself possessed technology within it unlike anything else on Expel --it was far too advanced, but Claude had no scanning equipment with which to analyze it. And inside, the monsters were fiercer... almost bloodthirsty.

These... people... were they responsible for all this death... all this destruction?

"Well, well, well..." A voice echoed throughout the room, sounding oddly distorted. A single light seemed to glow, and one of the many shadowed forms was revealed.

"DO NOT MOVE. HALT WHERE YOU STAND." A booming voice commanded. There was a harshness in the tone that froze everyone in their place, in a stance that said they would be ready to move at any time and attack whoever threatened them. 

"Where... where is the girl with the Quadratic Key? In creating the core and crystallizing the key, there should have been but one, but there was another..." A voice spoke, sounding oddly confused. Claude immediately knew they were talking about Rena. 

But what was this 'Quadratic Key' ... her pendant, maybe? It *had* been glowing strangely before they entered the tower...

"Who are you!?" Precis demanded, stepping forward. Claude thrust his arm out to block her from going any further forward, but Precis brushed it aside, a determined look on her face. Seconds later, a bubble of light appeared in front of one of the shadows, gathering and streaming until it became a laserbeam-- aimed right for Precis!

Claude immediately shoved the younger girl to the floor, but a sharp, burning pain told him that he hadn't completely avoided the beam. His arm stung incredibly, but without Rena here, there was nothing they could do.

"Uggh..." Claude groaned, holding his arm-- there was a hole in his jacket where the precise beam had sliced through the fabric, and a charred piece of flesh visibly showing through it. 

"Damn... if only Rena was here to heal this..." Leon murmured, rushing forward to bandage Claude's arm with what few materials he had. He glared steadily at the shadows. They instilled a sense of fear in the boy, to be sure, but after everything they'd been through... everyone they'd lost... he couldn't afford to be afraid anymore. The others *needed* him. Just as they'd needed Rena.

"I REPEAT, DO NOT MOVE! I KNOW YOU CAN UNDERSTAND US." The voice that had echoed so loudly off the room's corners spoke once more, glowing in a dim light. This was the one that had shot at Precis, and instead had wounded their best fighter. It mattered not that they could understand this... this *monster* but that the battle had just become more personal than before. 

"Claude, pull yourself together!" Precis cried worriedly, helping the older boy to stand. She smiled gratefully at Leon, who had bandaged the wound somewhat, and applied some soothing lotions to it to ease the pain. He hoped it would work, for if Claude couldn't move his arm, then he couldn't swing his sword-- which meant he couldn't fight.

"A girl with healing... a Nedian?!" Another voice spoke up after a moment, his form barely lit. Claude, Precis, and Leon looked up in startlement. Rena? A Nedian? What...?

"A Nedian...?" Celine murmured, confused. Ernest, standing beside her, grimaced, frowning deeply. Even with the enhanced vision that his third eye offered him, he couldn't see beyond the darkness. All that was visible was the dim forms of the figures in the distance, and the great glowing sphere behind them.

"What are you saying? Just who are you!?" Claude demanded, his hand sliding to the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it and fight, if necessary. His arm still throbbed uncomfortably, but pain aside, this was it...

"My, my... how primitive these beings of undeveloped planets are. They are so quick to raise their voices." There was the sound of one clicking his tongue against the side of his cheek, condesending in tone.

"Not quite..." Another voice spoke, "It seems that boy is not of Expel. He is an Earthing, I believe." 

Claude started-- how? How did these strangers know--? He glanced furtively at his companions, who merely looked confused, their glances just barely straying from the shadows to look at Claude. Claude swallowed deeply, his eyes turning back to the figures before him. If they knew he wasn't from Expel, that meant they had space travel... that they knew about the worlds outside of Expel. Then, it was possible that they had done something to prevent Rena from coming back to Expel...

"Pardon me, but why would an Earthling be here on the edge of the universe?" A polite, yet dark voice intoned. Claude's eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, and he could make out forms as they moved, spoke, and were lit up by that sourceless light.

"That I do not know," The first voice responded, his eyes straying over to Claude, who only stiffened more.

"Who are these guys to be speaking such gibberish? 'Earthling?' 'Space?'" Precis rolled her eyes, nervously casting a sideways glance at Claude. He seemed rather rigid and nervous himself-- could it be that what these weirdos were saying was true? Was Claude really an... an alien?

"There is no way that you could understand," The voice boomed again, turning towards Precis, who edged back with the others, "So, let me explain it to you. That boy is not from Expel. He is a being from another planet." 

All eyes turned to Claude, who shifted uneasily from one foot to the other, keeping his eyes on the shadows. Regardless of what they thought of him now -as anyone different- he would still protect his friends from these creatures... these 'people' controlling the Sorcery Globe.

"A... being from another planet?" Celine stared at Claude. He looked no different than any of the other young men on Expel. True, he even bore a resemblance to her fiancee, Chris! Yet... Rena, from the beginning, had always placed Claude on a pedastal. Even as their journeys progressed, it always seemed that Rena thought higher of Claude than he did of himself. Once or twice, the legend of the "Warrior of Light" became the topic of discussion, during which Claude looked most uncomfortable. Wearing Alien Raiments and weilding the Sword of Light... could he be...? No... It was *Claude* they were traveling with, not some myth.

"That is correct. The stars you believe to be merely points of light are actually home to various types of living creatures. Like Earth and Expel. But this is of little importance... now that the girl like us is missing."

"Girl like you!?" Claude demanded. He wasn't sure what all this 'Nedian' blather was -maybe it WAS Rena's species, but she wasn't here, and these people were insane- but to claim that Rena was like THEM!? They were insane, sucking the very life from Expel, warping it into a demon planet.

"Yes... that girl who held the Quadratic Key... we observed you as you moved through the tower. Yet she is no longer with you... perhaps she was killed?" There was a low chuckle, and soon the room echoed with a dark sense of mirth. 

"RENA IS NOT DEAD!" Claude cried out furiously, leaping forward, brandishing his sword. He was only a few meters away from the shadows now, yet they still remained shrouded in darkness. Regardless -their laughter at Rena's disappearance was less than humorous to Claude. 

"Don't listen to them, Claude!" Precis shouted in encouragement, standing up beside him. She quivered in her boots, but she knew that where Rena had once been Claude's souce of encouragement and determination, she had to stand in her place. Claude might not listen to her, but...

"What is your purpose?! Were you the ones that destroyed Eluria?!" Leon demanded, walking forward himself. 

"There is no need for you to know our purpose," The far left shadow spoke, moving slightly in the boy's direction.

"What!?" Claude spluttered, his face heating in anger. HOW DARE THEY!?

"And what's more," Another shadow intoned, "You're too late. This planet is already on a collision course with Nede. Even if you knew our purpose, there is nothing that you can do!"

All those present paled considerably, Leon stumbling backward and nearly falling on his behind. 

"Co...Collision...?" Precis murmured. Her father's face flashed before her eyes, and she fought to stop tears that began streaming down her face. Everything and everyone she had known...

"Why would you do such a thing? Are you trying to destroy this planet!?" Claude yelled, stepping forward again. The shadows reacted to his bold movement, shifting themselves the light around them brightening slightly. Claude could just barely make out the glimmer of armor on some of them, while others merely looked clothed in simple robes.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" 

Claude stared at the rear-most figure, the one that had laughed so insanely in response to Claude's angered question. "What's so funny?!"

"Just like a lower organism. I suspected they had such shallow thinking. So what if one planet in this area is destroyed? It is merely a means for us to return to Nede. All of these are merely stepping stones toward us regaining our powers and making the galaxy... no, the universe ours!" 

"You're going to conquer the galaxy!?" Claude shook angrily at them. How ridiculous...! But... if other planets could be harmed the same way as Expel had so far... with earthquakes, tidal waves, demons...

"Yes. Of course, worms such as yourselves would not understand." The voice quieted, and then the entire tower shook fiercely. Claude fell to his knees, his sword clattering to the tile beside him, while the others clutched onto each other, or whatever support happened to be nearest. The ground continued to rattle, tiles loosening from their spots on the ground, everything shaking.

"The time is near. This planet will soon collide with Nede." Another voice spoke up, sounding almost proud. The group of shadows looked upward, as if seeing something that the others could not. 

"Why!? Why did you pick this planet?!" Claude demanded selfishly. It was such a foolish question, he knew... if not Expel, then some other planet... people would still suffer... but...!

"This planet was merely the planet with a period and orbit closest to that of Nede. That is all." 

"The Quadratic Sphere -called the Sorcery Globe in your world- we used it to alter the planetary orbit, in order to make it collide with Nede. But we had no idea there would be a Quadratic Key on this planet... thanks to it, our plans were sped up by 100 years, even if at the last minute, it vanished..." 

"So it was Rena's pendant!" Claude murmured. A crystallized form of the Heraldry Stone... fashioned into a simple piece of jewelry... Rena never could have known that she actually played a vital role in the destruction of Expel!

"It was not surprising that she, as a Nedian, would have it. Only a Nedian could create a Quadratic Key." 

"Enough of this," A deeper voice interrupted, moving forward, "After all, you will all die right here." 

"I'll never let you!" Claude growled, standing up and brandishing his sword. The room lit with an unearthly glow -not that of the strangers, nor the Sorcery Globe- but a light around Claude, who almost appeared as if he were on fire, flaming with an energy and power so intense it brightened the space all around him. 

"We will defeat you and put an end to these foolish doings!"

"Too bad! Even if you defeat us, you can no longer change the orbit of Expel." 

"We'll see about that!" Claude retorted, his head clouded. 

"What a fool." One of the back shadows spoke, chuckling, "Well, humor him and put up a fight." 

"They seem to have a death wish." The closest shadow seemed to smile cruelly, raising the arm that had previously shot a laserbeam at Precis.

"The only sympathy I can offer is to kill you without making you suffer... too much." Another shadow nearby spoke, flexing his arms.

"Leave them to me. I alone will suffice for these fellows. My name is Berle," Berle spoke, moving forward in challenge to Claude and the others, into the light. "You should be proud that you are able to face me."

The others slipped into a battle formation, quickly surrounding Claude, with Leon and Celine in the rear; Precis and Ernest beside him, their weapons at the ready. Claude shifted into his own battle stance, his sword gleaming in the light. 

The creature before them certainly *looked* human, but the armor he wore seemed much thicker and stronger than anything Claude had seen anywhere -even on Earth. A strange blue light seemed to glisten around him on all sides, giving Claude the impression that this was no ordinary battle. The man smirked from underneath his Helm and charged forward, aimed straight for Claude.

For a moment, time seemed to stand still, and everyone took a sharp breath, not knowing whether they would even survive the next minute. At the last possible second, Claude ducked to the left, his sword slashing right towards where Berle had just been. But he wasn't there any longer-- now he was headed for the next closest target-- Precis!

The sixteen-year-old slid to the ground the moment she noticed the heavily-armored stranger heading towards her; she rolled off to the left and readied her Thunder Punch for a long-range shot. She doubted it would work, but...

"Leon, look out!" Claude cried, when Berle turned his attentions to the young scientist boy. Berle's head whipped to Claude's direction the moment Claude shouted, and it left him open for an attack from both Celine and Ernest, who both chose to use Thunder-based attacks, Ernest from his whip, and Celine with a Heraldic Spell. Neither seemed to work, however, as a gleaming blue shield shot up the moment the attacks hit. 

This time, however, Berle charged at the two who had just dared to attack him, and he became confused the moment they both split in opposite directions of the platform, Celine running behind Claude, and Ernest guarding Precis, who stood in front of Leon. 

Berle growled under his breath, and charged again for Claude, who grabbed Celine by the waist and flung the both of them into the shadows, off to Ernest's right. Berle was distracted by a whiplash from Ernest, while Leon quickly cast Black Saber. These attacks too, seemed to have no effect, and Berle only laughed more. 

"This man is impossible," Celine muttered, her eyes narrowing. Claude glanced at her, and realized what she meant by her words; not that Berle was *frustrating* but that they simply couldn't beat him. The more time they wasted fighting someone who had such immense strength, the less time Expel would have. They had to find a way to destroy that Globe!

Claude furtively glanced to where the other shadows had been before this fight started; they were gone. Had they retreated to a safer place to watch from, or had they simply disappeared altogether? If their aim was to crash some high-energy body into Expel in order to get back to a planet known as Nede, then maybe...

The glowing green sphere was still there, pulsating more than it had been before. They were getting close, and time was running out. But maybe, just maybe... 

Claude drew his sword closer to him, crouching down low and readying to jump up to perform a flying Head Splitter attack on the globe-- hopefully, it wouldn't be protected by any sort of a shield. He didn't have any kind of scanning device anymore -it had been part of his communicator- but that didn't matter right at the moment... moments were precious, and wasting them scanning something obviously dangerous...

"Celine... cover me." Celine glanced backwards at the young boy, a surprised and confused expression on her face as she watched him rise slowly and sneak towards the globe. 

"Cover you? What...? Claude," she hissed, "What are you doing?" Fire snapped around her fingertips; she was about to cast Firebolt in the hopes of distracting Berle from injuring Leon and Precis. Ernest, for the most part, was taking care of the nuisance by continually lashing at him with his whip, but the man's shield kept going up, preventing them from making any full frontal assaults. 

Claude didn't say anything as he charged forward, ready to jump down upon the pulsating green globe and split it into a million pieces. But that never happened-- the tower rumbled incredibly, and everyone lost their balance, including Berle. He was the first to rise, and chuckled, breathing heavily.

"Whew... you do well. However... I can play no more." He straightened, and walked back towards the globe, and Claude slowly stood up, preparing to fight the man one-on-one if necessary-- or if it was even possible. The tower rumbled once more, sweeping the entire place with a black energy without a source.

"If we can make it this far, we can teleport to Nede under our own power. Goodbye, fools..." One of the shadows had reappeared directly in front of the globe, and then the outlines of the others became slowly visible, glowing with power. There was a blinding white light, and one last, intense rumble of the earth around them, then everything went black. 

====================================================================

[ Medical Corps Quarantine Facility, Earth ] 

Officers noticing the famed Commodore approaching them immediately stiffened into a rigid position, saluting as the highest-ranking officer in the entire Federation passed by them. But instead of returning standard procedure with a salute of his own, the grim-looking Commodore continued on walking by, Doctor Westerburn on his right and Doctor Wellsley on his left. They all looked quite serious, to tell the truth, but no one knew just how serious the situation was...

"Ah, Doctor Wellsley!" A white-jacketed man strode briskly up to the older woman, a clipboard and pad in hand. He nodded respectfully to the Commodore and Doctor Westerburn, but didn't salute; this Doctor wasn't part of the Federation, and didn't abide to its regulations. 

"Is the patient...?" Wellsley trailed off, her eyes asking the question.

"She stopped crying about an hour ago," The doctor responded, his voice lowering, obviously sympathizing for the heartbroken child, "and fell asleep. She should be waking up soon. Care to join me?" He motioned fot the trio to follow him, and they walked down a corridor until they reached a small room on the end, where Rena lay on a bed, scanners busily charting every aspect of Rena's body. 

"She doesn't have any sort of diseases or impairments that our scanners can detect..." The doctor reported softly, "But that doesn't mean there aren't any. You said yourself, Commodore, in your report, that the device that transported Ensign Kenni to the planet where this girl was from was surrounded by a strange energy."

"Yes, and there was an unidentifiable high-energy body on a collision course with the planet when we found Clau... Ensign Kenni's bio-signature..." Commodore Kenni added, the last phrase dulling to a near whisper. 

"I'd like to run more intensive scans, but as far as I know, she's as healthy as can be, amazingly so, considering the state of the planet she was from." 

"Doctor?" Wellsley asked in confusion. Did he know something that they didn't?

"I took the liberty of having your ship's partial analysis sent to Astrometrics and Geoscience. They said that the high-energy body you found outclassed all other bodies we'd seen so far... but the partial scans couldn't reveal much more, aside from the fact that the body had a similar energy signature to what you observed on Milocinia." 

Commodore Kenni started, his eyes glancing upward. "It what?"

"The energy body you observed on a collision course with the planet... it shared a near exact energy signature with that of the energy on Milocinia. You never identified what the source of the energy of Milocinia was... it could have been the device that transported Ensign Kenni, it could have been the dome you found... it could have been the planet itself. The _Calnus_' scans were quite inconclusive to that end. But all the same, the scans you took of Arctura 4, the high-energy body, and of Milocinia's strange energy field all had very similar energy signatures..." 

"Wait... Arctura 4 as well?" Wellsley asked, her eyebrow raised. She hadn't been part of the survey team, but she knew enough about geoscience to realize that THREE completely different bodies sharing a near exact energy signature was very strange, if not nearly impossible.

"Well, in the case of the planet, it seems as though another energy body had collided with a continent on the Eastern Hemisphere, and caused earthquakes, drastic changes in the weather... and the mutations of many of the life-forms on the planet." 

"Mutations...?" Kenni stared. 

"Your initial scans before you communiqued Ensign Kenni revealed a mass of unnatural life-signs... creatures on the planet that didn't match the other indigenous life there, humanoid or otherwise." 

"Why didn't we know this...?" Kenni muttered, another possibility, another chance that he could have saved his son plaguing his mind. Not only had he left his son on a planet plagued with *mutations,* but he'd abadoned him when an unidentifiable high-energy body was about to collide with the planet...!

"Scans only record this kind of information, they don't report it, since it usually isn't a threat to the ship." 

Wellsley and Kenni fell silent. Not a threat to the ship maybe, but to the people below...?

"Monsters..." A weak voice piped up, and those present turned to Rena. The blue-haired girl was trying to sit up, using her arms as support. She nearly slipped, her arms trembling as she tried to sit up against the wall. 

"Monsters, you say?" Wellsley stepped forward, lying her hand on top of Rena's in a small attempt to comfort her. 

"The Sorcery Globe... that 'high-energy body' that collided with the planet... over three months before we heard from you... it caused monsters to appear everywhere... people were affected too..."

"What is this 'Sorcery Globe' you refer to?" The doctor asked, sitting on the side of Rena's bed. She stared at him, bewildered. 

"Who are you?" Rena asked bluntly, her eyes plainly stating that she was uncomfortable with a total stranger interrogating her. It wasn't as if she'd known Commodore Kenni or Doctor Wellsley for very long either... but it was longer than she'd known this odd man. 

"Ah... sorry... Doctor Thames, Federation Medical Corps Quarantine Facility." 

"Fede-- what? And who are you?" Rena pointed at Doctor Westerburn, who had been silent.

"Federation Medical Corps Quarantine Facility-- it's where people like us bring the sick and wounded, or aliens like you who are in need of special scanning." Thames responded, sounding proud.

"...'Special scanning?' What have you done to me!?" Rena demanded, tears brimming on the edge of her eyes. She wanted to summon up the will to heal herself from whatever they might have done to her, but the truth was, she felt physically fine. The only ache or pain she had anywhere was in her heart...

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Thames cried, standing and backing away from the girl. Rena sighed, nodding softly. She trusted Wellsley... she'd been kind before, and she seemed to trust this strange 'Thames' fellow. 

"I'm Doctor Westerburn, from the Federation Medical Corps Headquarters. I'm in charge of all the hospitals and medical facilities on this planet, and on the Federation starships, like the _Calnus_, which you were a passenger on."

"The... _Calnus_...." Rena shook her head, the memory of Claude's voice -desperately calling the vessel known as the _Calnus_ - disappearing. 

"The 'Sorcery Globe'...?" Thames prodded, staring down at a pad, ready to make note of whatever Rena said. Rena looked up at him, her expression unusually calm and serious. 

"The Sorcery Globe destroyed everyone's life on Expel. No one was spared."

====================================================================

Hours later, Rena finished relating her story-- the story of how the Sorcery Globe had landed on El, and how rumors soon turned into truth, with monsters appearing even in the tamest of forests and quietest of towns. 

She told them about Arlia, and the Legend of the Warrior that they had there-- that existed in nearly every city in Cross, and even in the smallest towns on the Lacour and El continents. Then, she told them about Claude arriving. She'd been visiting the Shingo Forest that day, and out of nowhere, a monster had appeared. Claude had saved her with his 'Sword of Light' -here she chuckled wryly, having been later told just what the 'Sword of Light' was- and had met her. She'd been terrified-- here was a total stranger with exotic clothing, a powerful and mysterious weapon, and a strange accent.

The doctors and Commodore Kenni listened with quiet interest, not even asking questions when Rena was sure there would be some. They thankfully didn't ask about Dias, about Rena's own past. These were things that would have to come up in time, but they weren't of such monumental importance right now. 

What was important was Rena explaining everything that happened in Eluria-- how they'd gotten this far, their numbers had increased, and how, at the last moment, Rena had been terrified of losing Claude, who had become the one true constant in her life, the one thing she could truly depend on. 

Wellsley's voice was only a whisper when she finished, tears brimming the elder woman's lash line as Rena sighed. "You loved him, didn't you?" 

Rena looked up at her, a half-hearted smile on her face. 

"More than life."

======================================================================

[ Two Years Later ... Starship _Calnus_ ] 

"So..." Ryuu swallowed unsure just how to respond to Rena's final words. She _loved_ Claude. Two years had passed, yes, but that kind of feeling doesn't just *fade* like that... He pulled anxiously at his collar.

He knew exactly what Rena was probably thinking... that if the planet was still here, had somehow survived the catatstophe that the _Calnus_ originally scanned for... was imminent... 

_Maybe Claude is still alive down there... somewhere._

"No matter how much I argue protocols, you'll still be going down there alone, won't you?" Ryuu sighed. He folded his hands in his lap and stared at them for a moment, the closeness between his hands and Rena's, and how easy it would be to simply...

"Yeah." Rena stood abruptly, striding back to her closet and hanging her head after fingering the uniforms inside. She knew what she was doing was brash and maybe even foolish, but her heart was leaping at the idea... at the very thought... maybe it was all impossible, just a bunch of false hopes and incorrect scans... but...

"...Good luck." Ryuu told her sincerely, smiling once before rushing briskly from the room. Rena stared after him, even after the automatic doors hissed shut. Her eyes watered for just a moment -the idea that she could have broken someone else's heart- stinging her. But...

Outside, Expel was a shining blue and green bead... a world of hope and possibilities. Never had Rena seen the planet from this perspective... and if all went well, she never would again.

======================================================================

[ Shingo Forest, Expel ] 

Yuki glanced left and right as she approached the clearing within Shingo Forest. It had been the first place she found Claude when they'd moved to Arlia together-- where he went when he needed some "alone time." Of course, the first time, he'd just up and left, hadn't even told her -the thought made the young girl frown slightly- and Yuki had been worried sick until Pastor Marshall told her that Claude frequented the forest. 

This time, however, Yuki wasn't there to _find_ Claude. No, this time she was taking a break _from_ him, trying to gather her own thoughts. It wasn't that he'd been absent-minded lately... he'd really been quite attentive and romantic. But Yuki somehow had the feeling... just a sensation, maybe... that it was all false. Two years had gone by, and both of them had grown as people... yet... somehow, Claude could never let go of the past.

Arlia would never change, not so long as it existed here on Expel. Maybe that's why Yuki was growing so restless for Claude to open up to her, to forget about his past, and... 

_What? Do I want to go back to Salva now? Or Cross...? _ The thought never would have crossed the girl's mind before, but here in the silence and calm, it seemed plausible. Arlia was so quaint and simple, and everywhere else was different. Always changing. Arlia still had that 'home' feeling to it, but it was a 'home' that Claude wasn't really part of. He only wedged himself into the village because of Rena, and now he couldn't let it go. 

Yuki sighed, sitting down beside a large tree. She stared up above the canopy, half-wishing she'd had the bravery to go at night, and stare up between the leaves of the trees, spy a shooting star, and make the wish she'd never been able to voice aloud before. The pink-haired girl closed her eyes, praying to any gods or spirits that could hear her thoughts. 

Suddenly, from somewhere there was a crack of branches on the ground and the crunch of leaves. 

"Who's there?!" Yuki yelped, sitting up abruptly. Claude, maybe...? But no... how could he have known that she was here in the forest? He was busy helping Uncle Hearn in the store...

There was silence again, and Yuki's fear intensified. She looked about wildly, in every direction. True, two years had passed since the Sorcery Globe had been destroyed... things had changed drastically within the inner circle of friends that Yuki was really only on the fringe of... but all the same, monsters were still rumored to wander the forests. 

When Yuki looked towards the path from which she'd come, she was startled-- blocking the worn-in trail completely was a lumbering, grotesque creature of immense proportions-- it looked like a gigantic gorilla, but with shining red eyes and VERY SHARP TEETH. Yuki screamed as loud as she could, unaware that only one person could hear her...

======================================================================

Once Rena materialized completely on the surface of the planet, she took a brief moment to absorb the serenity of the Shingo Forest. It had been so long... But that moment of tranquility was broken abruptly when a scream pierced the fresh air, and, falling instinct to her Federation Training, Rena dashed towards the source of the sound, barely realizing what she was doing as she drew her phase gun from her side belt.

She didn't even see the face of whoever had screamed; it didn't matter. Rena had whipped out her fully-charged phase gun and aimed it at the back of the monster looming over the figure and fired. The only thought echoing in the recesses of her mind was this:

_Welcome home, Rena!_

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

_Augh, well this was much longer than I originally intended! So perhaps my inspiration thus far will last me until Chapter 5 or 6! Mm, I'm working on doing the flashbacks that explain how Rena got into the Federation, what happened with Commodore Kenni, Doctors Westerburn, Wellsley, and Thames, plus what happened to everyone after Eluria Tower was destroyed. Don't worry, I'm not making Yuki a definite character in this! So please don't yell at me for Rena not being "with" either Claude or Dias. You'll see what happens... if you keep reading!   
~Azurite_


	4. Rethink

She didn't even see the face of whoever had screamed; it didn't matter. Rena had whipped out her fully-charged phase gun and aimed it at the back of the monster looming over the figure and fired. The only thought echoing in the recesses of her mind was this:

_Welcome home, Rena!_

==================================================================  
**Perfect World  
Part 4: Rethink**

** Version 1.1 - **Slight Changes  


**A Star Ocean 2: The Second Story Fanfiction**  
By Azurite  
azurite_moon@yahoo.com  
  
AIM: Meriellen5

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Star Ocean 2. Enix made it, Links did the CG, Tri-Ace created it... etc. etc. There's a list of Japanese people who own the character design, battle system, anime, and manga rights, too, but I don't know any of them, so just read and enjoy... 

NOTES: Hello, and welcome to yet another one of my SO2 ideas. Well, now it's actually a fic, and I'm ecstatic that I'm finally getting it off the ground. Hopefully my inspiration will last long enough for me to finish this one! ^^; I thought I'd point out two simple things: 

1) there are **spoilers** for up to the part of the game when the party arrives in El and goes to Eluria Tower; 

2) this is an odd combination of **Rena's scenario** and **Claude's scenario**. I did this because I needed to see what REALLY happened while Claude was on the Calnus, but I also want some PAs that are only available in Rena's scenario to have their "results" here in the fic. 

Technically speaking, if SO2 were REAL (as in, they'd finished making Star Ocean EX for the TV and such) then both scenarios would be together... and aside from the confusing-ness of whether or not Dias is part of your group _(he's part of the group, as you know by now, but he WILL be in the fic... was that unclear earlier?)_ then all would be the same, right? 

Also, **I ignore the "eight-party-member limit"** and the rule that says you "can't get so-and-so if you get so-and-so." So you might just see everyone. (Everyone being the 12 playable characters and THEN SOME!) 

THANK YOU: To Wonderful Failure and FangFire, who reviewed the first 2 chapters of Perfect World and have kept me going! I know I tend to skip around a lot, and also introduce characters that may not seem important, but they are, really! So keep on reading, and I'll keep on writing!

RECAP: Two years ago, Rena Lanford tried to "save" Claude from a mysterious voice calling him away from their closely-knit group of friends. Instead, she found herself on a spaceship 120 lightyears away from the planet she had known and loved-- and Expel was on its way to destruction. Now, she is the Captain of the Federation flagship _Calnus_, taking after Claude's father, the famous Ronixis J. Kenni. She is responsible for a ship of cadets surveying the Arctura system, of which Expel is a planet... still... Her mysterious past is revealed to her Commander, Ryuu, and Rena prepares to embark on a mission like never before. She arrives on Expel only to be greeted by a monster, and the life of an innocent villager is in danger...

====================================================================

[ Shingo Forest ]

Rena rolled from underneath the shrubbery which she'd been transported near, and squeezed the trigger of her phase gun without hesitation. In the back of her mind, a million thoughts burbled forth:

_Why this, why now? Why weren't all the creatures destroyed after...?_

_This girl is in danger, I have no time to..._

_I won't let anyone else's life be destroyed by these **monsters!**_

Rena pinched her eyes shut as she fired, the gun shrilling as its nearly-full energy reserve drained to zero, as the huge beam of energy grew in intensity. The large, gorilla-like monster that had, only moments before, been baring its fangs at the innocent, screaming girl, was growling... then it vanished in an explosion of black dust. 

The girl was crouched with her hands over her head in a defensive position-- and once the growling, stomping, thundering, and bright light was gone, she dared to peer up. First one eye, then another-- and as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her, she spied her savior-- a blue haired... it had to be a man, right? -- in an odd bright green jacket and white pants, holding a ... 

That was when she passed out.

Rena stared in horror at what she'd done-- at the young girl collapsed at the sight of her. She didn't waste time making second observations, she simply ran back to the transport site and initiated a quick emergency beam-up.

====================================================================

[ Starship _Calnus_ ] 

"Okay, so we have to rethink our plan." Rena sighed, running a hand through her hair. She quickly disposed of her green Federation jacket, tossing it offhandedly onto one of the conference room's chairs. 

Her second-in-command, Ryuu, eyed Rena warily as she paced about the room. 

"Don't you think we should contact the Federation about this?" Ryuu asked, trying to come up with some sort of answer that would appease Rena and her pacing. 

"What, and let them spend months deliberating on a plan of action? The only people that knew anything are either here right now," Rena made face, gesturing to herself, "Or are..." Her voice dropped to a sad whisper, "dead." 

Ryuu shut up; she was referring to the late Commodore. He'd been like her father for the two years she'd been on Earth, been in the Federation. It was strange how she'd suddenly latched onto him, but that man DID represent her last link to Ensign Kenni, to the world she'd known with him on Arctura 4 -"Expel."

====================================================================

[ Two years previous, Earth ] 

Rena hadn't spoken much since she and Commodore Kenni had left the Medical Corps Quarantine Facility some hours earlier. She was heavy-hearted and tired, but it wasn't as if she could simply fall asleep any place comfortable. Everything around her was foriegn and frightening-- none of it at all familiar.

And this was the world Claude had come from?

There was no nature anywhere. No real plants, no animals. There were plenty of strange... creatures, to be sure. Rena was downcast, but not oblivious to the aliens walking around her. Still, none of them looked anything like her. None of the humans had bright blue hair, and certainly none of them had sharply pointed ears.

There were blue-SKINNED people, and some with no hair at all. Some had partially-pointed ears, and others had spots running down their faces and necks. Others had strange ridges lining their foreheads and the bridge of their noses-- and others looked like they didn't have noses at all. Rena, in any other circumstance, would have been fascinated and terribly curious, but now she just wanted to get away from everything.

"Here we are." Commodore Kenni murmured, pressing his fingers against a glowing green panel. They'd been traveling along a conveyer belt for the past 20 minutes, inside a crystal-clear tube that revealed the scenery of the expansive city around them. But Rena had paid it no mind, instead focusing on her feet. She looked up slightly when Commodore Kenni spoke, realizing their surroundings had changed drastically.

The tube opened up in the side as the belt stopped, revealing a stone walkway leading through a lush garden and into a dome-roofed home. It was large and consisting of many buildings, but Rena could only make out the first three, the largest of the trio being dead center, the one that they entered. 

Upon entering, Rena spied a woman staring at something in her lap, unmoving. 

Commodore Kenni didn't say anything as he approached her, wrapping her in his arms as the woman started to sob uncontrollably. Without words, Rena understood-- this was Claude's mother. She felt like a horrible person here and now-- it was her fault, wasn't it? After all, Claude had warned her to stay away from him when he'd heard the strange voice from that device... that 'communicator.' And maybe if she'd listened... maybe Claude would...!

She didn't understand most of what the people at the Medical Facility had been talking about-- not what the doctors had said about high-energy bodies and a collision with a tremendous gravitational pull. But the grave expression on their faces gave Rena the answer to her unspoken question-- no one would have survived. Regardless of who had taken the communicator, everyone else would be dead.

_It should have been me!_ Rena thought desperately, trying to hold back her own tears as she watched Iria Kenni cry her heart out. She didn't know how much time passed before Iria and the Commodore finally looked up and faced Rena, trembling in the doorway.

"Ah, uh..." Iria started, hiccuping, "You must be Rena. Somenth told me about you over the communicator." Rena didn't know how to respond, but she bowed her head as the woman stood up shakily and approached her. She was startled when she felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her-- a sensation not familiar to her grew from her fingers to her toes-- that warm tingling that told her that she was safe, protected, and loved.

But by strangers? By people that didn't even know her, and could even place blame on her for the death of their son? How could they--?

"I know Claude must have meant a great deal to you too," Iria murmured, holding Rena close and stroking the girl's blue hair, "And it won't be easy to get through this... time. But I'm sure we'll never forget Claude, and all of us together we can help each other out."

Rena swallowed hard-- tears coursed down her face freely now, reddening her cheeks and eyes. She tentatively wrapped her own arms around the older woman, realizing that this woman was now the closest thing she had to a friend or mother-- anyone she could turn to for any sort of comfort. If she didn't embrace it now, she would never be able to.

A sad memory of Dias -leaving Arlia, changing forever- flitted through Rena's vision. As much as she loved and missed the swordsman, she didn't want to become like him. She might have lost everything, but she would start anew... she would learn from what she lost- learn from Claude. He had lost his home, but he'd triumphed and learned to survive. And if Claude could do it, Rena thought, her determination emerging, so could she.

====================================================================

[ Shingo Forest ]

"Yuki! Yuki, where are you?" Claude called out. A frantic tone was starting to creep its way into the young man's voice-- he had no idea where Yuki'd gone. Usually she told him when she was going out, and where she was headed, but this afternoon, she'd simply disappeared.

It was unlike her.

Worry overcame the former Federation Ensign, and he started coming up with ridiculous situations on what could have happened to the young jam-girl. His search had led him here, to the Shingo Forest-- and it was after ducking under the large branches of an ancient tree that he found Yuki, collapsed.

"Yuki!" Claude rushed forward, kneeling before the pink-haired girl sprawled on the ground. Her expression was one of fear-- her eyebrows drawn up on her brow and her lips turned downward in a slight frown. She had seen something in the forest, and luckily, whatever it was hadn't harmed her.

"Yuki... wake up! Please...!" While shaking the young girl, Claude looked around-- no one or nothing to be seen. He quickly focused his attention on Yuki when she stirred, moaning something. 

"You saved me..." 

Claude leaned in closer to hear Yuki's words, but she sighed, her eyes fluttering open slowly as she realized Claude was propping her up. 

"Wha... Wh...?" Yuki looked around, bewildered, slowly rising to her feet by pushing herself up off the ground. She didn't seem to notice Claude, even though she'd awoken in his arms, and began to look around, peering behind trees and foliage. 

"Where is it? Is it gone?" Yuki spoke aloud, her gaze curious as she wandered about the small clearing.

"Is WHAT gone? Yuki, what happened?" Claude asked, moving closer to her. He raked a hand through touseled golden hair that had fallen in his face and matted to his forehead; in his worry and rush, he'd sweated running through the forest. He hadn't realized that a girl in danger could invoke such feelings in him. For a moment, he'd seen Rena in his arms instead of Yuki-- but like before, he'd had to push those images and thoughts from his mind.

"There..." Yuki peered behind Claude once more for good measure, "There was some sort of monster. I screamed for help, and then all of a sudden there was this tremendous light, and I swear I saw someone..."

Yuki's description struck a chord in Claude's memory-- one he remembered all too well. After awakening to a mysterious and new world, Claude had seen a frightening monster attacking an innocent girl-- the girl that would eventually capture Claude's heart. 

The vivid flashback arose painful feelings in the boy's chest, so he attempted to rid himself of the visuals by shaking his head and asking Yuki for more details. 

"I didn't get a good look at him, since I passed out, but I'm sure he was wearing some strange jacket... and he had dark hair like I've never seen before." 

Claude pursed his lips; a similar description was given of HIM when he'd first arrived on Expel. He'd never believed himself to be the fabled Warrior of legend. Was it possible that now, after all this time, a new danger was coming to Expel, and the true Warrior had arrived?

It was all just circumstance, Claude told himself. After all, Rena had misunderstood his situation back then, what was to say that Yuki hadn't as well? But then, there was no mysterious stranger wandering about the forest. No trace of any terrible monster-- no anything. Could it be possible that Yuki had just fallen asleep? 

No, she'd definitely fainted. But still... could a mysterious stranger, terrifying monster, and glowing light be a product of Yuki's imagination? The girl was known to be creative at times, but...

"We should get back to Arlia now, Yuki. You can tell me everything there." Claude wrapped a reassuring arm around Yuki's shoulder, slowly leading her out of the clearing. 

"Y...Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I don't think this forest is so serene anymore." Yuki held onto Claude's hand that was draped across her shoulder, walking out of Shingo Forest with him. As they left the clearing, a piece of bright green fabric caught on a branch fluttered in the wind, and flew away over the rooftops of Arlia.

====================================================================

[ Starship _Calnus_ ] 

"So what... we're going to send teams down to Expel?"

"It's the best idea. Our original mission was to survey this system and make comparative analyses with the former scans..." Rena swallowed, "Commodore Kenni conducted two years ago." 

"His scans were pretty informal," Ryuu commented as he scanned some padds, "We're really going to survey this planet?" 

"Everything about it. As much as I would love to claim Federation non-interference at this point, it's moot. After all, this is my planet, and my being in the Federation pretty much nullifies any non-interference pact the Federation Council might cite." Rena mused, smirking as she walked down the corridor to the bridge with Ryuu.

"That's a point. But we should still have everyone follow standard unsurveyed planet procedure, and try to blend in with the civilians, right?"

"Of course..." Rena smiled, as they stopped before the lift going up to the bridge. "And I can certainly help with that." 

Ryuu's unsure smile met with Rena's bright one. Earlier, she'd been worried about what she'd done, saving an innocent Arlian from a monster. There were so many questions-- why were monsters still on Expel after all this time? Why was it happening all over again-- just like when Claude had arrived? Had the girl from Arlia recognized her? What had happened to her after Rena -in fear and surprise- had just teleported away like that?

Now, she seemed more chipper than ever, with a plan forming in her mind, strategies brewing, and excitement spreading to the cadets that would be involved.

====================================================================

[ Village of Arlia ]

Yuki was trembling, even as she stood, slowly mixing fruit preserves together to form a new jam. Her Uncle, Mr. Hearn, stood behind her, casting a curious, worried expression out towards Claude, who mirrored the shopkeeper's face. 

Yuki hadn't wanted to go into more detail about her experience in the forest-- only said she'd encountered some sort of monster, and someone had saved her. She'd passed out, and when she woke up, Claude was there, and her saviour was gone. 

Claude, not wanting to press the issue, was left with his own thoughts. The appearance of monsters after all this time was something to be feared-- it wasn't as though every single monster from the time of the Sorcery Globe had been entirely routed... but still, they were uncommon nowadays.

"Claude," Mr. Hearn suddenly spoke, his face brightening, "Aren't you and Yuki going to Cross soon? I seem to remember a messenger from the Queen asking for your presence at the next Lacour Tournament of Arms coming up." He glanced towards Yuki, who continued to stir fruits together, barely paying attention to the new topic of conversation.

"Ah... yeah, Celine planned out this whole thing for us to travel to Lacour together on the Royal Ship with everyone..." Claude scratched behind his ear. He still couldn't get used to the fact that Celine -his friend, Celine, the woman he'd traveled with- was Queen. Well, she would be. King Cross -the one that Claude had met at the start of his 'journey' 2 years ago- had recently passed away, and so his son, Clother -or Chris, as Claude had come to know him by- had been crowned King. Celine was Chris' wife, and as such was entitled to the title of Queen, but she hadn't been formally crowned yet.

They were supposed to leave within the next two days to arrive in Cross on time... the celebration kicking off the Lacour Tournament of Arms was in a month, and he and Celine had already discussed entering together as a Mage-Fighter pair. 

"Claude darling, you must admit, it's a wonderful idea! I'm so glad they've reformatted the Tournament to let Mages in, and now they allow Pairs Fighting. It's sure to be a delight this year!" Celine had smiled as she spoke, knowing that Claude was curious about something other than the new tournament format.

That **something**, was more appropriately a **someone**. Claude wondered what happened to his formal rival and last year's Tournament Champion, Dias. He hadn't been heard from in many months, and Celine mentioned -only in passing- that they might see him in Lacour at the Tournament. Claude was tempted to ask her more, but refrained, knowing that he wouldn't get any answers from Celine if she didn't want to give them.

"Uhm, I better be... getting back to the Mayor's house, now." Claude mumbled. He cast a glance back at Yuki, who suddenly looked up, her gaze frightened.

"C-Claude?" He turned around, briskly striding up to the countertop where she'd been working. He gently placed his hand over hers, while the younger, pink-haired girl attempted to smile. 

"T-Thanks. For finding me." She smiled genuinely this time, and Claude smiled back at her. A strange chill swept through him, remembering how he'd found Yuki, and everything that had been running through his head then... but he brushed it off quickly, kissing Yuki's cheek lightly and then stepping out into the sunset.

====================================================================

[ Two years previous, Earth ]

It was hard... getting used to everything. Commodore Kenni hadn't really said much to the matter, but it was assumed -implied, really- that Rena would be staying with them. She was far too young, Iria had said, to be out on her own, especially after everything that had happened. 

They had more than enough room, and now that both the Commodore and his wife were on leave, the place would be awfully lonely without a third person there. They had to help each other out, they said, together. 

So Rena was ushered to a perfectly clean and drab guest room, that barely had any sign of life to it. Somehow, Rena couldn't bring herself to care-- she spent the remainder of that evening she'd arrived simply staring up at the gray ceiling.

When she closed her eyes, it was a blue-green tiled ceiling that went up, up, up, vines slithering around the corners and down pillars... she was back, back inside the Eluria Tower, and everything -Expel being destroyed, losing Claude- had just been a horrible nightmare, a terrible dream.

But when she opened them again, tiles and vines alike faded away. She was still on Earth, and... and Claude! 

Claude was still gone. 

Somehow, her vision had lasted longer than it seemed. When Rena stepped out into the hallway, the window revealed that the sky had grown dark, and the light of a single moon shone off the plants outside. The door behind her suddenly hissed shut, causing the 17-year-old to jump forward in fright. She looked around hastily and walked down the hallway, finding herself back in that same clear passageway she'd been traveling through with the Commodore earlier. 

The conveyer belt was shut off, as was the corridor leading down further, presumably to other parts of the city, or wherever it was they were. But there was a tiny door -its outline barely visible in the dark night- that Rena found, and, pressing her fingers on the glass, she managed to open it and step outside into the crisp night air.

She wandered around for a few moments, allowing herself to be fascinated by the array of colorful flowers, most of them closed for the night, but a few of them just beginning to blossom, glowing in the light as nothing Rena had ever seen before.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Rena turned around, surprised to hear another voice outside with her. She turned to face Iria, who was holding a small maroon watering can in her hand. 

"Y-Yes." Rena murmured, turning back to look at the flowers. Iria put the watering can down near the glass door, and stood beside Rena, admiring the sparkling violet flowers, blooming in the moonlight.

"It's because of special seeds -they're so tiny you can't really see them- that cover the petals of the flower. They react to a certain light in the spectrum, and so appear to glow in the moonlight. In the Lansing Arboretum, there's a whole field of them, and people go there to watch the stars rise and the flowers glow." 

"I-It's sounds lovely," Rena whispered, her voice choking. She remembered sitting outside Arlia, watching the stars from just outside the village gates. And she remembered stepping outside the Inn in Hilton, hearing Claude so desperately trying to communicate with the people he loved back home.

A lone tear slid down Rena's face, then another, and another, and soon the girl couldn't stop herself from crying. 

Iria glanced at Rena, and realized that the girl was crying, though she was not being openly obvious about it. 

"Oh-Oh... Rena, are you allergic to the flowers? I'm sorry, I--" 

"N-No, that... that's not it. That's not it at all!" She hadn't meant for her voice to raise, but she found herself crying out loudly anyway. Reality was harsh, and everything -being here, feeling so alone- reminded her of Claude, screamed to her that it was HIM that was meant to be here, not her.

She broke down, collapsing onto her knees, Iria worriedly kneeling beside her. And, out there in the cool moonlight, Rena told the older woman everything-- from her torrid, mysterious past to what had brought her to Earth. 

====================================================================

[ Two years later, Starship _Calnus_ ] 

"Okay, is everyone ready?" Rena smiled at the troupe of 14 cadets they'd assembled; she'd assigned as many advanced ones to each pair that she could, many of them students in her Heraldry Arts class back at the Academy. They were the best of the 26 cadets on board, the best that the Academy had to offer.

The _Calnus_ was on a survey mission, but, being one of the older ships in the Fleet, despite its having been retrofitted upon its return to Earth two years ago, it also served as a cadet training vessel. There were very few senior officers aboard the vessel-- not nearly as many as had served under Commodore Kenni. 

Primarily, there were the cadets that served on the bridge, supplemented by a few newly-ranked Ensigns, and of course, the Commander and the Captain. There were more Lieutenants and Lieutenant Commanders down in Engineering, and a scant few in the Sickbay, where there was no assigned Doctor.

With a Captain that could heal with a touch, what need would a ship of children have for a Doctor?

"Yes Captain!" Everyone chorused in unison, the cadets and other assorted officers standing stiffly at attention. Rena smiled, casting a side glance to Ryuu. He looked horribly embarassed in his clothes; he definitely looked more "at home" in his uniform. Rena, for her part, couldn't have felt better to get out of her tailored pantsuit that was her uniform, as professional as it looked. 

She was standing before her cadets without a single mark of ranking on her- rather, she wore her old outfit, though it was just a _little_ tight in places. Rena tried not to show her discomfort, and instead settled for walking back and forth slowly, having the vain hope that she might break a few seams in the process. 

"Try not to act so serious down on Expel-- and call it _Expel_, and not Arctura 4, or you'll be found out immediately, okay?" The cadets nodded, remaining silent as their Captain continued. 

"Each team will be split up on the two major continents-- the Cross Continent and the Lacour Continent. Team A, you'll be tackling Lacour, starting in Hilton and moving East towards the capital of Lacour. Try to stop by the Lacour Front Lines on your way to the capital though, you'll pick up some good stuff." 

"Team B will start further South in Linga, and should try checking out the Sanctuary of Linga there while you're at it-- check for any strange anomalies, interesting plant life, all that. Dom't draw too much attention with scanning devices though-- but if you're faced with enemies, use Heraldry Arts, this planet is where I learned it all from." 

Rena nodded, continuing on as she approached the third pair. "Teams C and D, you've got the Hoffman Ruins, which are just off the coast of Lacour-- we'll be transporting you directly there, and to get to the main continent, you'll need to communique with one of the Lacour Teams and arrange for a site-to-site transport, understood?" The captains of the two teams nodded. 

"The Hoffman Ruins, the last time I was there, was not a friendly place. Things might have changed, but you should know the least-- there's several explosives rigged around the place, so if you see a lever, DO NOT pull it. I want photos of that place though, document it to the best of your ability. That place is dangerous though, so make sure to equip yourselves appropriately." 

"Team E, you're the first of the Cross Continent teams. You'll be there along with teams F and G, as well as the Commander and I; we'll be serving as Team H. Team E, you've got Arlia, Salva, and Cross. Arlia and Salva are fairly small, but worth checking out. Try not to draw the suspicions of the Mayor in Arlia or Salva though, the both of them are pretty shrewd to odd things. Matter of fact, try not to draw any attention at all-- don't go walking up to people and asking them odd questions or waving scanners in their faces, okay?" 

Rena smirked slightly as she remembered how the young girl back in Shingo Forest fainted at the sight of her. Now she realized how Claude must have felt when she ran away from the sight of him, so long ago...

_Bah! I'm getting all wistful again! This... this is a mission!_

But on some level, Rena knew that she had a mission of her own-- to see if everyone was still around, to find out how Expel could TRULY still be in existence, when the presence of some nameless evil had threatened it so. And... 

"A-And," Rena continued, trying not to let her voice catch become audible, "Team F, you will check out the interior of the Cross Cave. Legend has it that it was explored long ago, just like the Salva Drift and the Sanctuary of Linga, but you can always find something new and interesting. Before you head there though, we'll all assemble in Cross to equip and make sure everyone knows what they're doing. Still, try to be inconspicuous and not come bouncing up to us if you see us in the city, okay?" 

The cadets laughed, but quickly straightened when Ryuu gave them all a Look. 

"F, you guys have also got the Heraldry village of Mars." Rena smiled as she stopped in front of her two best Heraldry Arts students, Mira and Shalyne. "You two will have a BALL there, I promise-- and you can even take some time to train and check out the Heraldry Forest, it's right next to the village. The village elders there are very kind, and I'm sure they'd be glad to help you with any Heraldry questions you might have. Just... don't mention Healing though, Recovery is NOT a part of Heraldry Arts... but I'm sure you guys knew that by now, right? Okay." 

"Last thing, I know I keep babbling... I also want the teams to head towards the Port of Herlie when you're done with Cross Cave and Mars; you don't have to wait for Ryuu and I, but you guys should head to Lacour together. We'll meet with the Lacour Teams and the Hoffman Ruins Teams, okay? Finally, Team G, I want you to check out Clik. It was destroyed by a tidal wave the last time I was there, so check and see how they've expanded, changed. Keep your eye out for little rascals though, and keep a TIGHT hand on your wallets and purses, Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The cadets responded loudly. Rena sweatdropped; she was only 19, and still couldn't get used to being addressed as a "Ma'am." 

"I feel old now..." Rena grumbled as she passed the second-to-last team, standing beside Ryuu. 

"Check out Lasguss Mountain too, and make sure to have all the hiking equipment you need. Lasguss Mountain is specifically for you two adventure-hounds," Rena smirked at Ryan and Rourke, the only two cadets of the sixteen cadets that had **requested** to be on the _Calnus_, despite their having been stationed at the Western American Academy Institute, across the Pacific from where Rena was normally stationed. 

"It's VERY high up and involves lots of climbing... so be careful. Check out Cross before you head up there, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't go to the Lasguss Desert, that place is dangerous, and for the heck of it, I'm making that an ORDER! I want you ALL to be appropriately equipped with everything you need-- but again, don't be blatant about your use of high technologies, this is still considered an under-developed planet, okay? Does everyone understand?"

"Yes, MA'AM!" 

Rena sweatdropped as she turned to Ryuu, "Initiate the first two teams' transport." 

"Teams A and B, prepare to transport." 

The two teams climbed onto the transporter pad and saluted as they vanished, dematerializing in the form of glowing sparkles. 

Finally, the transporter room was empty save for Rena and Ryuu. Ryuu was still fidgeting in his loosened pants, long-sleeved and high-collared shirt, and cloak. He was always adjusting the shoulder straps on his armor, or itching his palm where the rough leather of his gloves chafed. 

"Bridge, are you prepared to initiate cloak on my transport?" 

"Yes Captain. We will enter standard orbit of the planet, and will notify you in case of anything." Rena nodded firmly as she headed up to the transporter, her finger releasing the button on the communications panel. 

"Set transport for 30 seconds, Ryuu." He pressed a few buttons, and then joined her up on the transporter, taking a long glance at Rena's outfit, and how snug it was around... certain areas.

"Shouldn't you have adjusted that before this?" Ryuu gestured towards her, and her obvious discomfiture with the tightness. Rena frowned at him and punched him in the shoulder as they dematerialized into space. 

====================================================================

[ En Route to Cross ] 

"Mr. Alen, it's sure nice of you to give us a ride to Cross in your carriage," Yuki said politely, nodding to the Salva Mayor's son. 

Alen smiled back at the young girl; he'd known her for years while she'd lived in Salva, but it was never a relationship of the close and personal kind-- he was just aware of her being the 'jam girl.' And now, she was living with Claude in Arlia, and, by the look of things, they were both doing well. 

"It was no problem at all. I have business to attend to in Cross, and, like you, will eventually be heading towards Lacour for the Tournament of Arms." 

"Oh really? That's wonderful, maybe we'll see each other there!" Yuki smiled, in much better spirits than she'd been a few days previous. 

"Well, maybe. It's sure to be crowded this year, especially since rumors say that the Heir to Lacour's Throne will be announced at the Tournament." Alen smiled. 

Claude, who had been staring out the window, suddenly glanced towards Alen. 

"That's right. I asked Celine about that, and she just smiled and refused to say a word." 

"Well, a Queen is allowed to have her secrets," Alen smiled, shrugging slightly. He still found it hard to believe that the young man he'd become only slightly acquainted with two years ago was very good friends with the soon-to-be Queen of Cross, as well as the most prominent Zoologist in Expel, the most famous Scientist in Cross, several famed swordsmen, one of them _cursed_, along with Linga's renowned Doctor Bowman, and, rumor had it, at least three aliens.

"Women's perogative, Claude," Yuki grinned, wagging her finger at him. He smiled slightly back, leaning back into his chair and trying to get comfortable for the remainder of the ride. 

====================================================================

[ Two years previous, Earth ] 

Commodore Kenni couldn't bring himself to stay in the house after what had happened, and, despite the fact that he was on leave, he donned his uniform and prepared to head to Federation Headquarters. He would, like his wife, busy himself... somehow.

As he prepared to leave the house, he paused, seeing the young alien girl staring out at the sky. It was mid-morning, and the sun was just beginning to glisten over the roof of the house, and down into the garden, where dew-covered leaves shone. 

Commdore Kenni approached her hesitantly, pressing the panel on the glass door that led out to the garden. 

"Miss... Miss Lanford?" Rena turned her smile faint, "You don't have to call me that, sir. You can call me Rena." The Commodore smiled slightly as well, nodding. 

"Well then Rena, you don't have to call me 'sir,' either... just call me Ronixis." 

"O-Okay, Roni-Ronix--" Rena trailed off, embarassed, unable to say the name properly. She looked quite befuddled, her eyes crossing and her nose turning a bright cherry red.

For the first time in several days, if not longer, the Commdore laughed. Rena turned at the sound, and smiled, her blush slowly fading away with the rising sun. 

"Ron will do just as well, Rena. Now, I'm about to head out to the Federation Headquarters... maybe you'd like a tour this time?" 

Rena smiled brightly, and nodded. "Y-Yes, I'd like that. I'd like that very much." And she walked out of the gardens just behind the Commodore, into a new day. 

====================================================================

[ Federation Headquarters ] 

"...And this is the Medical Corps Quarantine Facility..." the Commodore trailed off, purposely oblivious to the stares he was getting as he toured Rena about the headquarters. Rena had just been here some days ago, but now she was more observant, and less upset. 

All around them, officers and cadets murmured in hushed tones-- wasn't the Commodore on leave? Hadn't his son just passed away-- why then, didn't he look upset? Well, he always looked pensive, maybe he just had good self-control... But then, who was that girl with him? She didn't look like any alien anyone had ever seen before...

"Out of the way!" A sudden cry sounded, and a small team of people rushed forward, carrying a young, bloodied man on a gurney. Blood covered the left side of his head, matting the dark hair on the young man's brow to his head. He was still awake, and wincing as he gripped one of his arms, which looked charred and red on the underside.

"What happened here, Officer?" Commodore Kenni demanded, briskly walking along the gurney. He tried not to look at the young man, moaning in pain below him, but Rena couldn't take her eyes off of him. 

"An accident in the Weapons Lab, Sir! Some phaser beams richocheted right off the new armor for the Battle Suit we've been testing, and hit Lieutenant Itou here, sending him flying into his control panel." 

"Why didn't you transport him here then?" the Commodore demanded gruffly, taking a swift glance at the boy. He'd never been able to stomach the sight of blood much, despite all his hardened years of fighting. And on a man so young, and during a time like this... 

"Transporters in the Lab were disabled sir, for repairs throughout the building. There was an accident last week that got an Ambassador locked in a continuous transporter cycle. He got out, but the transporters in the area are still undergoing inspection."

The team reached a medical bay, and upon seeing the injured man, doctors started to swarm around him, effectively dismissing the team that had transported him there. They shifted Lieutenant Itou to a bed and proceeded to anesthetize him so he wouldn't feel any pain. 

Rena and Commodore Kenni watched in a combination of mute fascination and horror; it wasn't until there was a shrill beeping that they awoke from their stupor and dared to move closer. 

"Doctor, we're losing his lifesigns, he's lost too much blood!" 

"Get me 30 ccs of Anaprovoline, and find me his blood type, immediately! Prepare for an emergency transfusion!" 

"We can't, doctor! His blood pressure and heart rate are decreasing-- we're down to 30% vitals now, Sir! I don't think he'll make it!"

"WAIT!" Rena found herself crying out. She stepped forward, brushing past the Doctors, who stared at her. 

"What do you think you're doing young la--" The Doctor suddenly spotted the Commodore, who stood silently, his expression strange. He looked as though he wanted to know what Rena was about to do, but he too had taken a step forward, to stop her if necessary. 

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Will someone stop that incessant beeping?" The Doctor roared, sending a nurse quickly scurrying to the panel to lower the volume. 

Rena stood before Lieutenant Itou, silent. She gripped the young man's hand, holding her other palm just above his wounded head. Though he was unconscious, Rena felt a slight squeeze from the young man-- he wanted to continue living, keep going... 

_I have to save him!_

Rena started to glow an unearthly green-white light, and a sudden sparkle filled the room, blinding all the doctors and nurses present. 

"What do you think you--" 

"Cure... Light!" Rena murmured, and then the light began to recede. When everyone opened their eyes again, the wounds on Itou began to fade, slowly returning to their normal skin color, broken and charred skin healing and repairing itself before everyone's eyes.

"D-Doctor... His lifesigns are stablizing... bloodflow is normal, at 85% and rising now... He's going to make it." The nurse sounded astonished, and rightfully so. The other doctors and nurses stared at Rena, gaping in awe. She let go of Itou's hand and fell to the ground, her energy depleted. 

Commodore Kenni quickly walked to her side, kneeling beside the younger girl as she tried to catch her breath. 

"Rena..." He didn't know what to say-- a million questions burbled forth. He'd only seen that power once before, but that was... 

But the Doctor asked Commodore's unspoken question for him. 

"What _**are**_ you?"

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

_Ehehe... once again, longer than I intended. It took a while to get everything across, and to me, this was a fairly emotional chapter... but it gets MORE emotional, can you believe it! Wow..._

_I JUST finished playing Star Ocean 2 tonight, and I was nearly in tears! *sniff* I think I have to open a new scenario now... _

_Anyway, there's still some things left hanging, obviously, such as the fate of the Commodore and his wife, the Doctors (Somenth Westerburn and Edith Wellsley), and the whole explanation of how Rena became the Captain, met Ryuu, etc. And STILL we have what happened after Eluria Tower... I'll get back to that all, I promise, but there's a lot to cover here! Hope you're not getting confused!_

_This chapter is dedicated to SAMANTHA, who sent me the NICEST, BESTEST (^^;) review I have EVER EVER EVER gotten! You wanted a new chapter out sooner, well, here it is! I hope you liked it, and I hope everyone will review and keep reading!_

_~Azurite_


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